&*. 


riSF?      jaSc 


^ 


it,. 


M 


[See  page  73 


AROUND    THE    CAMP-FIRE 


THE 

YOUNG  ALASKANS 
ON  THE  TRAIL 


BY 

EMERSON     HOUGH 

AUTHOR  OF      [ 
"THE  YOUNG   ALASKANS" 
"THE  STORY  OF  THE   COWBOY" 


I  LLUSTRATED 


HARPER  &  BROTHERS   PUBLISHERS 

NEWYORK    AND    LONDON 

MCMX1 


Books   by 
EMERSON   HOUGH 

The  Young  Alaskans.     Ill'd.     Post  8vo  .     .  $1.25 
Young     Alaskans     on     the     Trail.     Ill'd. 

Post  8vo 1.25 

HARPER  &  BROTHERS,  NEW  YORK 


COPYRIGHT.   1911.   BY    HARPER   a    BROTHERS 

PRINTED    IN    THE    UNITED    STATES   OF    AMERICA 

PUBLISHED   OCTOBER.    1311 


CONTENTS 

CHAP.  PAGB 

I.  Taking  the  Trail i 

II.  The  Gate  of  the  Mountains 10 

III.  Studying  Out  the  Trail 23 

IV.  The  Great  Divide 37 

V.  Crossing  the  Height  of  Land 43 

VI.  Following  Mackenzie 53 

VII.  Around  the  Camp-fire        69 

VIII.  A  Hunt  for  Bighorn 83 

IX.  A  Night  in  the  Mountains 102 

X.  How  the  Split-stone  Lake  was  Named    .     .  112 
XL  Lessons  in  Wild  Life 119 

XII.  Wild  Country  and  Wilderness  Ways    .     .  134 

XIII.  The  Caribou  Hunt 143 

XIV.  Exploring  the  Wilderness 158 

XV.  In  the   Big  Waters 168 

XVI.  The   Grizzly   Hunt 181 

XVII.  The  Young  Alaskans'  "Lob-stick"    .     .     .  191 

XVIII.  Bad  Luck  with  the  "Mary  Ann"      .     .     .  200 

XIX.  New   Plans         207 

XX.  The   Gorge  of  the  Mountains 217 

XXI.  The  Portage  of  the  Rocky  Mountains       .  226 

XXII.  East  of  the  Rockies 232 

XXIII.  The   Land  of  Plenty 236 

XXIV.  The  White  Man's  Country 244 

XXV.  How  the  Ermine. Got  His  Tail  Black      .  249 


CONTENTS 

CHAP.  pAGE 

XXVI.  Trailing  the  Bear 254 

XXVII.  The  End  of  the  Old  War-trail      .     .     .  264 

XXVIII.  Steamboating  in  the  Far  North     .     .     .  274 

XXIX.  A  Moose  Hunt 286 

XXX.  Farthest  North 294 

XXXI.  Homeward  Bound 307 

XXXII.  Leaving  the  Trail 317 


ILLUSTRATIONS 


AROUND    THE    CAMP-FIRE Frontispiece 

BRINGING    THE    CANOES    INTO    CAMP Facing  p.     14 

THE    BEAR    BROKE    COVER    WITH    A    SAVAGE    ROAR 

TRACKING    UP-STREAM  

MOISE    AND    THE    DUGOUT  

MOISE    AT    HOME  

A    RIVER    STEAMER 

THE    PORTAGE,    VERMILION    CHUTES,    PEACE    RIVER 


186 
214 
240 
266 
278 
302 


THE  YOUNG  ALASKANS  ON  THE  TRAIL 


THE    YOUNG    ALASKANS 
ON    THE    TRAIL 


TAKING   THE    TRAIL 

IT  was  a  wild  and  beautiful  scene  which  lay 
about  the  little  camp  in  the  far-off  moun- 
tains of  the  Northwest.  The  sun  had  sunk 
beyond  the  loftier  ridges,  although  even  now 
in  the  valley  there  remained  considerable 
light.  One  could  have  seen  many  miles  over 
the  surrounding  country  had  not,  close  at 
hand,  where  the  little  white  tent  stood,  the 
forest  of  spruce  been  very  dense  and  green. 
At  no  great  distance  beyond  its  edge  was 
rough  and  broken  country.  Farther  on,  to 
the  southward,  stood  white-topped  peaks 
many  miles  distant,  although  from  the  camp 
these  could  not  be  seen. 

It  might  have  seemed  a  forbidding  scene 
to  any  one  not  used  to  travel  among  the 


THE  YOUNG  ALASKANS  ON  THE  TRAIL 

mountains.  One  step  aside  into  the  bush,  and 
one  would  have  fancied  that  no  foot  had 
ever  trod  here.  There  was  no  indication  of 
road  or  trail,  nor  any  hint  of  a  settlement. 
The  forest  stood  dark,  and  to-night,  so  motion- 
less was  the  air,  its  silence  was  more  complete 
than  is  usually  the  case  among  the  pines  or 
spruces,  where  always  the  upper  branches 
murmur  and  whisper  among  themselves.  Such 
scenes  cause  a  feeling  of  depression  even 
among  grown  persons  who  first  meet  them; 
and  to-night,  in  this  remote  spot,  one  could 
not  well  have  blamed  the  three  young  occu- 
pants of  this  camp  had  they  felt  a  trifle  un- 
easy as  the  twilight  drew  on  toward  darkness. 
They  were  it  is  true,  not  wholly  new  to 
camp  life,  these  three  boys — Rob  Mclntyre, 
John  Hardy,  and  Jesse  Wilcox.  You  may  per- 
haps call  to  mind  the  names  of  these,  since 
they  are  the  same  who,  more  than  a  year  be- 
fore, were  cast  away  for  some  time  on  the 
slopes  of  Kadiak  Island,  in  the  far  upper  por- 
tion of  Alaska;  from  which  place  they  were 
at  last  rescued  in  part  by  their  own  wits  and 
in  part  by  the  watchfulness  of  their  guardian, 
Mr.  Hardy.  The  latter,  whom  all  three  boys 
called  Uncle  Dick,  was  a  civil  engineer  who, 
as  did  the  parents  of  all  the  boys,  lived  in  the 
coast  town  of  Valdez,  in  far-off  Alaska. 


TAKING  THE  TRAIL 

When  Rob,  John,  and  Jesse  returned  home 
from  their  dangerous  adventures  on  Kadiak 
Island,  they  had  been  told  that  many  a  day 
would  elapse  before  they  would  be  allowed 
to  take  such  chances  again.  Perhaps  Uncle 
Dick  never  really  told  the  parents  of  the  boys 
the  full  truth  about  the  dangers  his  young 
charges  had  encountered  on  Kadiak  Island. 
Had  he  done  so  they  would  never  have  been 
willing  for  the  boys  to  take  another  trip  even 
more  dangerous  in  many  ways — the  one  on 
which  they  were  now  starting. 

But  Uncle  Dick  Hardy,  living  out  of  doors 
almost  all  the  time  on  account  of  his  pro- 
fession as  an  engineer,  was  so  much  accus- 
tomed to  dangers  and  adventures  that  he 
seemed  to  think  that  any  one  could  get  out 
of  a  scrape  who  could  get  into  one.  So  it 
was  not  long  after  the  return  from  Kadiak 
before  he  forgot  all  about  the  risks  the  boys 
had  run  there.  The  very  next  year  he  was 
the  first  one  to  plead  with  their  parents,  and 
to  tell  them  that  in  his  belief  the  best  way 
in  the  world  for  the  boys  to  pass  their  next 
summer's  vacation  would  be  for  them  to 
cross  the  Rocky  Mountains  from  the  Pacific 
side  and  take  the  old  water  trail  of  the  fur- 
traders,  north  and  east,  and  down  the  Peace 
River  from  its  source. 

3 


THE  YOUNG  ALASKANS  ON  THE  TRAIL 

It  chanced  that  Uncle  Dick,  who,  like  all 
engineers,  was  sometimes  obliged  to  go  to 
remote  parts  of  the  country,  had  taken  charge 
of  an  engineering  party  then  locating  the  new 
railroad  bound  westward  from  Edmonton,  in 
far-off  Northwest  Canada.  While  he  himself 
could  not  leave  his  employment  to  go  with 
the  boys  across  the  Rockies,  he  assured  their 
parents  that  he  would  meet  them  when  they 
came  down  the  river,  and  see  that  every  care 
should  be  taken  of  them  meantime. 

"  Let  them  go,  of  course,"  he  urged.  "  You 
can't  really  hurt  a  good,  live  boy  very  much. 
Besides,  it  is  getting  to  be  so  nowadays  that 
before  long  a  boy  won't  have  any  wilderness 
where  he  can  go.  Here's  our  railroad  making 
west  as  fast  as  it  can,  and  it  will  be  taking  all 
sort  of  people  into  that  country  before  long. 
Here's  a  chance  for  the  boys  to  have  a  fine 
hunt  and  some  camping  and  canoeing.  It 
will  make  them  stout  and  hearty,  and  give 
them  a  good  time.  What's  the  use  worry- 
ing all  the  time  about  these  chaps?  They'll 
make  it  through,  all  right.  Besides,  I  am  go- 
ing to  send  them  the  two  best  men  in  Canada 
for  their  guides. 

"I  wouldn't  say,  myself,  that  these  boys 
could  get  across  alone,"  he  added,  "because 
it's  a  hard  trip  for  men  in  some  ways.     But 

4 


TAKING   THE  TRAIL 

in  the  care  of  Alex  Mackenzie  and  Moise 
Duprat  they'll  be  as  safe  as  they  would  be  at 
home  in  rocking-chairs." 

"What  Mackenzie  is  that?"  asked  Jesse 
Wilcox's  mother  of  her  brother,  Uncle  Dick. 

"Well,  he  may  be  a  relative  of  old  Sir 
Alexander  Mackenzie,  so  far  as  I  know.  The 
family  of  that  name  is  a  large  one  in  the 
North,  and  there  always  have  been  Macken- 
zies  in  the  fur  trade.  But  speaking  of  the 
name,  here's  what  I  want  to  explain  to  you, 
sister.  These  boys  will  be  going  back  over 
the  very  trail  that  good  old  Sir  Alexander 
took  when  he  returned  from  the  Pacific 
Ocean." 

"But  that  was  a  long  time  ago — " 

"Yes,  in  1793,  while  George  Washington 
still  was  alive,  and  not  so  very  long  after  the 
Revolutionary  War.  You  know,  Mackenzie 
was  the  first  man  ever  to  cross  this  continent, 
and  this  was  the  way  he  went,  both  in  going 
west  and  coming  east — just  where  I  want 
these  boys  to  go.  They'll  see  everything 
that  he  saw,  go  everywhere  that  he  went, 
from  the  crown  of  the  continent  on  down 
clear  to  the  Arctics,  if  you  want  to  let  them 
go  that  far. 

"I'm  telling  you,  sister,"  he  added,  eagerly, 
"the  boys  will  learn  something  in  that  way, 

5 


THE  YOUNG  ALASKANS  ON  THE  TRAIL 

something  about  how  this  country  was  dis- 
covered and  explored  and  developed,  so  far 
as  that  is  concerned.  That  is  history  on  the 
hoof,  if  you  like,  sister.  In  my  belief  they're 
the  three  luckiest  little  beggars  in  the  world 
if  you  will  only  let  them  go.  I'll  promise  to 
bring  them  back  all  right." 

"Yes,  I  know  about  your  promises!"  began 
Mrs.  Wilcox. 

"When  did  I  ever  fail  to  keep  one?"  de- 
manded Uncle  Dick  of  her.  "And  where 
can  you  find  three  sounder  lads  in  Valdez 
than  these  we're  talking  about  now?" 

"But  it's  so  far,  Richard — you're  talking 
now  about  the  Peace  River  and  the  Athabasca 
River  and  the  Arctic  Ocean — why,  it  seems 
as  though  the  boys  were  going  clear  off 
the  earth,  and  we  certainly  would  never  see 
them  again." 

"Nonsense!"  replied  Uncle  Dick.  "The 
earth  isn't  so  big  as  it  used  to  be  in  Sir 
Alexander's  time.  Let  them  alone  and  they'll 
come  through,  and  be  all  the  more  men  for 
it.  There's  no  particular  hardship  about  it. 
I'll  go  down  with  them  in  the  boat  to  Van- 
couver and  east  with  them  by  rail  to  where 
they  take  the  stage  up  the  Ashcroft  trail — 
a  wagon-road  as  plain  as  this  street  here. 
They  can  jog  along  that  way  as  far  as  Ques- 

6 


TAKING  THE   TRAIL 

nelles  as  easy  as  they  could  on  a  street-car 
in  Seattle.  Their  men 'II  get  them  from  there 
by  boat  up  the  Fraser  to  the  headwaters  of 
the  Parsnip  without  much  more  delay  or 
much  more  danger,  but  a  lot  of  hard  work. 
After  that  they  just  get  in  their  boats  and 
float." 

"Oh,  it  sounds  easy,  Richard,"  protested 
his  sister,  "  but  I  know  all  about  your  simple 
things!" 

"  Well,  it  isn't  every  boy  I'd  offer  this  good 
chance,"  said  Uncle  Dick,  turning  away. 
11  In  my  belief,  they'll  come  back  knowing 
more  than  when  they  started." 

"But  they're  only  boys,  not  grown  men 
like  those  old  fur-traders  that  used  to  travel 
in  that  country.  It  was  hard  enough  even 
for  them,  if  I  remember  my  reading  cor- 
rectly." 

"  I  just  told  you,  my  dear  sister,  that  these 
boys  will  go  with  less  risk  and  less  danger  than 
ever  Sir  Alexander  met  when  he  first  went 
over  the  Rockies.  Listen.  I've  got  the  two 
best  men  in  the  Northwest,  as  I  told  you. 
Alex  Mackenzie  is  one  of  the  best-known  men 
in  the  North.  General  Wolseley  took  him 
for  chief  of  his  band  of  voyageurs,  who  got 
the  boats  up  the  Nile  in  Kitchener's  Khartoum 
campaign.      He's  steadier  than  a  clock,  and 

2  7 


THE  YOUNG  ALASKANS  ON  THE  TRAIL 

the  boys  are  safer  with  him  than  anywhere 
else  without  him.  My  other  man,  Moise 
Duprat,  is  a  good  cook,  a  good  woodsman,  and 
a  good  canoeman.  They'll  have  all  the  camp 
outfit  they  need,  they'll  have  the  finest  time 
in  the  world  in  the  mountains,  and  they'll 
come  through  flying — that's  all  about  it!" 

"  But  won't  there  be  any  bad  rapids  in  the 
mountains  on  that  river?" 

"Surely,  surely!  That's  what  the  men  are 
for,  and  the  boats.  When  the  water  is  too 
bad  they  get  out  and  walk  around  it,  same 
as  you  walk  around  a  mud  puddle  in  the 
street.  When  their  men  think  the  way  is 
safe  it's  bound  to  be  safe.  Besides,  you  for- 
get that  though  all  this  country  is  more  or 
less  new,  there  are  Hudson  Bay  posts  scat- 
tered all  through  it.  When  they  get  east  of 
the  Rockies,  below  Hudson's  Hope  and  Fort 
St.  John,  they  come  on  Dunvegan,  which  now 
is  just  a  country  town,  almost.  They'll  meet 
wagon-trains  of  farmers  going  into  all  that 
country  to  settle.  Why,  I'm  telling  you,  the 
only  worry  I  have  is  that  the  boys  will  find 
it  too  solemn  and  quiet  to  have  a  good  time!" 

"Yes,  I  know  about  solemn  and  quiet 
things  that  you  propose,  Richard!"  said  his 
sister.  "But  at  least  "—she  sighed— " since 
their  fathers  want  them  to  live  in  this  north- 


TAKING  THE  TRAIL 

ern  country  for  a  time,  I  want  my  boy  to 
grow  up  fit  for  this  life.  Things  here  aren't 
quite  the  same  as  they  are  in  the  States. 
Well— I'll  ask  Rob's  mother,  and  John's." 

Uncle  Dick  grinned.  He  knew  his  young 
friends  would  so  beset  their  parents  that 
eventually  they  would  get  consent  for  the 
trip  he  had  described  as  so  simple  and  easy. 

And,  in  truth,  this  evening  camp  on  the  crest 
of  the  Rockies  in  British  Columbia  was  the 
result  of  his  negotiations. 


II 

THE    GATE    OP    THE    MOUNTAINS 

WHETHER  Uncle  Dick  told  the  boys 
everything  he  knew  about  this  under- 
taking, or  whether  their  mothers  realized 
what  they  were  doing  in  allowing  them  to  go 
so  far  and  into  a  wild  region,  we  shall  be  forced 
to  leave  as  an  unanswered  question.  Cer- 
tainly they  started  with  their  Uncle  when  he 
left  Valdez  by  steamer  for  Vancouver.  And, 
finishing  that  part  of  their  journey  which  was 
to  be  made  by  rail,  wagon,  and  boat,  here  they 
were,  in  the  twilight  of  a  remote  valley  at  the 
crest  of  the  great  Rocky  Mountains ;  near  that 
point,  indeed,  properly  to  be  called  the  height 
of  land  between  the  Arctic  and  the  Pacific 
waters.  Moreover,  they  were  for  the  time 
quite  alone  in  camp. 

"Well,  fellows,"  said  Rob  at  last,  "I  sup- 
pose we'd  better  get  some  more  wood  together. 
The  men'll  be  back  before  long,  and  we'll 
have  to  get  something  to  eat." 

"How  do  you  know  they'll  come  back?" 
asked  John  dubiously. 

10 


THE  GATE  OF  THE  MOUNTAINS 

"  Alex  told  me  he  would,  and  I  have  noticed 
that  he  always  does  things  when  he  says  he  is 
going  to." 

11 1  don't  hear  them,  anyway,"  began  Jesse, 
the  youngest,  who  was,  by  nature  as  well  as  by 
years  perhaps,  not  quite  so  bold  and  coura- 
geous as  his  two  young  friends. 

"  You  couldn't  hear  them  very  far,"  replied 
Rob,  "because  they  wear  moccasins." 

"Do  you  think  they  really  can  get  the 
canoes  out,  carrying  them  on  their  backs  all 
the  way  from  where  we  left  them?"  asked 
Jesse. 

"They're  very  strong,"  Rob  answered, 
11  and  that  work  isn't  new  to  them.  And,  you 
know,  they  carried  all  our  packs  in  the  same 
way." 

"That  Moise  is  as  strong  as  a  horse,"  said 
John.  "My!  I  couldn't  lift  the  end  of  his 
pack  here.  I  bet  it  weighed  two  hundred 
pounds  at  least.  And  he  just  laughed.  I 
think  he's  a  good-natured  man,  anyhow." 

"Most  of  these  woodsmen  are,"  replied 
Rob.  "  They  are  used  to  hardships,  and  they 
just  laugh  instead  of  complain  about  things. 
Alex  is  quieter  than  Moise,  but  I'll  venture  to 
say  they'll  both  do  their  part  all  right.  And 
moreover,"  he  added  stoutly,  "if  Alex  said 
he'd  be  here  before  dark,  he'll  be  here." 

ii 


THE  YOUNG  ALASKANS  ON  THE  TRAIL 

"It  will  be  in  less  than  ten  minutes,  then," 
said  Jesse,  looking  at  the  new  watch  which  his 
mother  had  given  him  to  take  along  on  his 
trip.   "  The  canoe's  a  pretty  heavy  thing,  John." 

Rob  did  not  quite  agree  with  him. 

"They're  not  heavy  for  canoes — sixteen- 
foot  Peterboroughs.  They  beat  any  boat 
going  for  their  weight,  and  they're  regular 
ships  in  the  water  under  load." 

"They  look  pretty  small  to  me,"  demurred 
Jesse. 

"  They're  bigger  than  the  skin  boats  that  we 
had  among  the  Aleuts  last  year,"  ventured 
John.  "Besides,  I've  noticed  a  good  deal 
depends  on  the  way  you  handle  a  boat." 

"Not  everybody  has  boats  as  good  as 
these,"  admitted  Jesse. 

"  Yes,"  said  John,  "  it  must  have  cost  Uncle 
Dick  a  lot  of  money  to  get  them  up  here  from 
the  railroad.  Sir  Alexander  Mackenzie  trav- 
eled in  a  big  birch-bark  when  he  was  here — 
ten  men  in  her,  and  three  thousand  pounds  of 
cargo  besides.  She  was  twenty-five  feet  long. 
Uncle  Dick  told  me  the  Indians  have  dugouts 
farther  down  the  river,  but  not  very  good 
ones.  I  didn't  think  they  knew  anything 
about  birch-bark  so  far  northwest,  but  he 
says  all  their  big  journeys  were  made  in  those 
big  bark  canoes  in  the  early  days." 


THE  GATE   OF  THE  MOUNTAINS 

"Well,  I'm  guessing  that  our  boats  will 
seem  pretty  good  before  we  get  through," 
was  Rob's  belief,  "  and  they'll  pay  for  them- 
selves too." 

All  the  boys  had  been  reading  in  all  the  books 
they  could  find  telling  of  the  journeys  of  the 
old  fur-traders,  Alexander  Mackenzie,  Simon 
Fraser,  and  others,  through  this  country. 
Rob  had  a  book  open  in  his  lap  now. 

"  How  far  can  we  go  in  a  day  ?"  asked  Jesse, 
looking  as  though  he  would  be  gladder  to  get 
back  home  again  than  to  get  farther  and 
farther  away. 

"That  depends  on  the  state  of  the  water 
and  the  speed  of  the  current,"  said  the  older 
boy.  "  It's  no  trouble  to  go  fifty  miles  a  day 
straightaway  traveling,  or  farther  if  we  had 
to.  Some  days  they  didn't  make  over  six  or 
eight  miles  going  up,  but  coming  down — 
why,  they  just  flew!" 

"That  wouldn't  take  us  long  to  go  clear 
through  to  where  Uncle  Dick  is." 

"  A  few  weeks  or  so,  at  least,  I  hope.  We're 
not  out  to  beat  Sir  Alexander's  record,  you 
know — he  made  it  from  here  in  six  days!" 

"I  don't  remember  that  book  very  well," 
said  Jesse;  "I'll  read  it  again  some  time." 

"  We'll  all  read  it  each  day  as  we  go  on,  and 
in  that  way  understand  it  better  when  we  get 

13 


THE  YOUNG  ALASKANS  ON  THE  TRAIL 

through,"   ventured  John.      "But    listen;    I 
thought  I  heard,  them  in  the  bush." 

It  was  as  he  had  said.  The  swish  of  bushes 
parting  and  the  occasional  sound  of  a  stum- 
bling footfall  on  the  trail  now  became  plainer. 
They  heard  the  voice  of  Moise  break  out  into 
a  little  song  as  he  saw  the  light  of  the  fire 
nickering  among  the  trees.  He  laughed  gaily 
as  he  stepped  into  the  ring  of  the  cleared 
ground,  let  down  one  end  of  the  canoe  which 
he  was  carrying,  and  with  a  quick  twist  of  his 
body  set  it  down  gently  upon  the  leaves. 

"You'll  mak'  good  time,  hein?"  he  asked 
of  the  boys,  smiling  and  showing  a  double 
row  of  white  teeth. 

"What  did  I  tell  you,  boys?"  demanded 
Rob.  "  Here  they  are,  and  it  isn't  quite  dark 
yet." 

The  next  moment  Alex  also  came  in  out  of 
the  shadow  and  quietly  set  down  his  own 
canoe,  handling  it  as  lightly  as  though  it  were 
but  an  ordinary  pack.  Indeed,  these  two 
woodsmen  were  among  the  most  powerful  of 
their  class,  and  well  used  to  all  the  work  which 
comes  on  a  trip  in  a  wilderness  country. 

As  they  stood  now  a  little  apart,  it  might  be 
seen  that  both  of  the  guides  were  brown- 
skinned  men,  still  browner  by  exposure  to  the 
weather.     Each  of  them  had  had  an  Indian 

14 


BRINGING    THE    CANOES    INTO    CAMP 


THE  GATE   OF  THE   MOUNTAINS 

mother,  and  the  father  of  each  was  a  white 
man,  the  one  a  silent  Scot,  of  the  Hudson 
Bay  fur  trade,  the  other  a  lively  Frenchman 
of  the  lower  trails,  used  to  horse,  boat,  and  foot 
travel,  and  known  far  and  wide  in  his  own 
day  as  a  good  voyageur. 

Indeed,  two  better  men  could  not  have 
been  selected  by  Uncle  Dick  for  the  work  now 
in  hand.  As  they  stood  now  in  their  shirt- 
sleeves, each  wiping  off  his  forehead  with  his 
red  kerchief,  they  looked  so  strong  and  tall 
that  the  boys  suddenly  felt  all  uneasiness  pass 
away  from  their  minds.  The  twilight  came 
on  unnoticed,  and  in  the  light  of  the  fire, 
freshly  piled  up  with  wood,  the  camp  scene 
became  bright  and  pleasant.  It  was  impossi- 
ble to  feel  any  alarm  when  they  were  here 
under  the  protection  of  these  two  men,  both 
of  them  warriors,  who  had  seen  encounters  of 
armed  men,  not  to  mention  hundreds  of 
meetings  with  wild  beasts. 

"Well,"  said  Rob  to  Moise,  "you  must  be 
tired  with  all  that  load." 

"Non!  Non!"  said  Moise;  "not  tired. 
Shell  been  leetle  boat,  not  over  hondred- 
feefty  poun'.     I'll  make  supper  now,  me." 

"  It  was  best  to  bring  both  the  boats  in  to- 
night," said  Alex,  quietly,  "and  easier  to  start 
from  here  than  to  push  in  to  the  lake.     We 

*5 


THE  YOUNG  ALASKANS  ON  THE  TRAIL 

load  here  in  the  morning,  and  I  think  there'll 
be  plain  sailing  from  here.  It's  just  as  well 
to  make  a  stream  carry  us  and  our  boats  when- 
ever we  can.  It's  only  a  little  way  to  the 
lake." 

"  I  thought  you  were  never  coming,  Alex," 
said  Jesse,  frankly,  looking  up  from  where  he 
sat  on  his  blanket  roll,  his  chin  in  his  hands. 

The  tall  half-breed  answered  by  gently 
putting  a  hand  on  the  boy's  head,  and  making 
a  better  seat  for  him  closer  to  the  fire.  Here 
he  was  close  enough  to  watch  Moise,  now  busy 
about  his  pots  and  pans. 

"Those  mosquito  he'll  bite  you  some?" 
laughed  Moise,  as  he  saw  the  boys  still  slapping 
at  their  hands.  "Well,  bimeby  he'll  not  bite 
so  much.  She'll  be  col'  here  un  the  montaigne, 
bimeby." 

"  I'm  lumpy  all  over  with  them,"  said  John. 

"It's  lucky  you  come  from  a  country  where 
you're  more  or  less  used  to  them,"  said  Alex. 
"I've  seen  men  driven  wild  by  mosquitoes. 
But  going  down  the  river  we'll  camp  on  the 
beaches  or  bars,  where  the  wind  will  strike  us. 
In  two  or  three  weeks  we'll  be  far  enough  along 
toward  fall,  so  that  I  don't  think  the  mosqui- 
toes will  trouble  us  too  much.  You  see,  it's 
the  first  of  August  now." 

"We  can  fix  our  tent  to  keep  them  out," 
16 


THE  GATE  OF  THE   MOUNTAINS 

said  Rob,  "and  we  have  bars  and  gloves,  of 
course.  But  we  don't  want  to  be  too  much 
like  tenderfeet." 

"  That's  the  idea,  "said  Alex,  quietly.  "  You'll 
not  be  tenderfeet  when  you  finish  this  trip." 

"Her  Onkle  Deek,  she'll  tol'  me  something 
about  those  boy,"  said  Moise,  from  the  fire- 
side. "  She'll  say  she's  good  boy,  all  same 
like  man." 

Jesse  looked  at  Moise  gravely,  but  did  not 
smile  at  his  queer  way  of  speech,  for  by  this 
time  they  had  become  better  acquainted  with 
both  their  guides. 

"What  I'll  tol'  you?"  said  Moise  again  a 
little  later.  "  Here  comes  cool  breeze  from 
the  hill.  Now  those  mosquito  he'll  hunt  his 
home  yas,  heem!  All  right!  We'll  eat  sup- 
per 'fore  long." 

Moise  had  put  a  pot  of  meat  stew  over  the 
fire  before  he  started  back  up  the  trail  to  bring 
in  the  canoe,  when  they  first  had  come  in  with 
the  packs.  This  he  now  finished  cooking 
over  the  renewed  fire,  and  by  and  by  the  odors 
arose  so  pleasantly  that  each  boy  sat  waiting, 
his  knife  and  fork  on  the  tin  plate  in  his  lap. 
Alex,  looking  on,  smiled  quietly,  but  said  noth- 
ing. 

"Moise  doesn't  build  a  fire  just  the  way 
I've  been  taught,"  said  Rob,  after  a  while. 

17 


THE  YOUNG  ALASKANS  ON  THE  TRAIL 

"No"   added  John.     "I    was  thinking  of 
that,  too." 

"He's  Injun,  same  as  me,"  said  Alex,  smil- 
ing.    "  No  white  man  can  build  a  fire  for  an 
Injun.     S'pose  you  ask  me  to  put  your  hat  on 
for  you  so  you  wouldn't  need  to  touch  it.     I 
couldn't  do  that.     You'd  have  to  fix  it  a  little 
yourself.     Same  way  with  Injun  and  his  fire. 
"  That's  funny,"  said  Rob.    "  Why  is  that  ?" 
"I  don't  know,"  smiled  Alex. 
"He  just  throws  the  sticks  together  in  a 
long  heap  and  pushes  the  ends  in  when  they 
burn  through,"  said  Jesse.     "He  didn't  cut 
any  wood  at  all." 

Moise  grinned  at  this,  but  ventured  no  more 
reply. 

"You  see,"  said  Alex,  "if  you  live  all  the 
time  in  the  open  you  learn  to  do  as  little 
work  as  possible,  because  there  is  always  so 
much  to  do  that  your  life  depends  on  that  you 
don't  want  to  waste  any  strength." 

"  It  doesn't  take  a  white  man  long  to  get 
into  that  habit,"  said  Rob. 

"Yes.  Besides,  there  is  another  reason. 
An  Injun  has  to  make  his  living  with  his  rifle. 
Chopping  with  an  ax  is  a  sound  that  frightens 
game  more  than  any  other.  The  bear  and 
deer  will  just  get  up  and  leave  when  they  hear 
you  chopping.     So  when  we  come  into  camp 

18 


THE  GATE  OF  THE  MOUNTAINS 

we  build  our  fire  as  small  as  possible,  and  with- 
out cutting  any  more  wood  than  we  are 
obliged  to.  You  see,  we'll  be  gone  the  next 
morning,  perhaps,  so  we  slip  through  as  light 
as  possible.  A  white  man  leaves  a  trail  like  a 
wagon-road,  but  you'd  hardly  know  an  Injun 
had  been  there.  You  soon  get  the  habit 
when  you  have  to  live  that  way." 

"Grub  pile!"  sang  out  Moise  now,  laughing 
as  he  moved  the  pans  and  the  steaming  tea- 
kettle by  the  side  of  the  fire.  And  very  soon 
the  boys  were  falling  to  with  good  will  in  their 
first  meal  in  camp. 

"Moise,  she'll  ben  good  cook — many  tarns 
mans'll  tol'  rne  that,"  grinned  Moise,  pleasant- 
ly, drawing  a  little  apart  from  the  fire  with 
his  own  tin  pan  on  his  knee. 

"We'll  give  you  a  recommendation,"  said 
John.  "This  stew  is  fine.  I  was  awfully 
hungry." 

It  was  not  long  after  they  had  finished  their 
supper  before  all  began  to  feel  sleepy,  for  they 
had  walked  or  worked  more  or  less  ever  since 
morning. 

Alex  arose  and  took  from  his  belt  the  great 
Hudson  Bay  knife,  or  buffalo  knife,  which  he 
wore  at  his  back,  thrust  through  his  belt. 
With  this  he  hacked  off  a  few  boughs  from  the 
nearest  pine-tree  and  threw  them  down  in  the 

*9 


THE  YOUNG  ALASKANS  ON  THE  TRAIL 

first  sheltered  spot.  Over  this  he  threw  a 
narrow  strip  of  much-worn  bear  hide  and  a 
single  fold  of  heavy  blanket,  this  being  all  the 
bed  which  he  seemed  to  have. 

"Is  that  all  you  ever  had?"  asked  Rob. 
"I  don't  think  you'll  sleep  well,  Alex.  Let 
me  give  you  some  of  my  bed." 

"Thank  you,  no,"  said  Alex,  sitting  down 
and  lighting  his  pipe.  "We  make  our  beds 
small  when  we  have  to  carry  them  in  the 
woods.  We  sleep  well.  We  get  used  to  it, 
you  see." 

"Injun  man  she'll  been  like  dog,"  grinned 
Moise,  throwing  down  his  own  single  blanket 
under  a  tree.  "A  dog  she'll  sleep  plenty,  all 
right,  an'  she'll  got  no  bed  at  all,  what  ?" 

"  But  won't  you  come  under  the  edge  of  the 
tent?"  asked  Rob. 

"No,  you're  to  have  the  tent,"  said  Alex. 
"I'm  under  orders  from  your  Uncle,  who  em- 
ployed me.  But  you're  to  make  your  own 
beds,  and  take  care  of  them  in  making  and 
breaking  camp.     That's  understood." 

"I'll  do  that  for  those  boy,"  offered 
Moise. 

"No,"  said  Alex,  quietly,  "my  orders  are 
they're  to  do  that  for  themselves.  That's 
what  their  Uncle  said.  They  must  learn  how 
to  do  all  these  things." 

20 


THE  GATE   OF  THE  MOUNTAINS 

"Maybe  we  know  now,  a  little  bit,"  ven- 
tured John,  smiling. 

"I  don't  doubt  it,"  said  Alex.  "But  now, 
just  from  a  look  at  your  bed,  you've  taken  a 
great  deal  of  time  making  your  camp  to-night. 
You've  got  a  good  many  boughs.  They  took 
noise  and  took  time  to  gather.  We'll  see  how 
simple  a  camp  we  can  make  after  we  get  out 
on  the  trail.  My  word!  We'll  have  trouble 
enough  to  get  anything  to  sleep  on  when  we 
get  in  the  lower  Peace,  where  there's  only 
willows." 

11  What  do  you  do  if  it  rains  ?"  queried  Jesse. 
"  You  haven't  got  any  tent  over  you,  and  it 
leaks  through  the  trees." 

"  It  won't  rain  so  much  when  we  get  east," 
said  Alex.  "When  it  does,  Moise  and  I'll  get 
up  and  smoke.  But  it  won't  rain  to-night, 
that's  certain,"  he  added,  knocking  his  pipe 
on  the  heel  of  his  moccasin.  "  Throw  the  door 
of  your  tent  open,  because  you'll  not  need  to 
protect  yourselves  against  the  mosquitoes  to- 
night. It's  getting  cold.  Good  night,  young 
gentlemen." 

In  a  few  moments  the  camp  was  silent,  ex- 
cept something  which  sounded  a  little  like  a 
snore  from  the  point  where  Moise  had  last 
been  seen. 

John  nudged  his  neighbors  in  the  beds  on 

21 


THE  YOUNG  ALASKANS  ON  THE  TRAIL 

the  tent  floor,  and  spoke  in  low  tones,  so  that 
he  might  not  disturb  the  others  outside,  "Are 
you  asleep  yet,  Rob?" 

"Almost,"  said  Rob,  whispering. 

"So'm  I.  I  think  Jesse  is  already.  But 
say,  isn't  it  comfy?  And  I  like  both  those 
men." 


Ill 

STUDYING    OUT    THE    TRAIL 

IT  must  have  been  some  time  about  five 
o'clock  in  the  morning,  or  even  earlier, 
when  Rob,  awakened  by  the  increasing  light 
in  the  tent,  stirred  in  his  blanket  and  rolled 
over.  He  found  himself  looking  into  the  eyes 
of  John,  who  also  was  lying  awake.  They 
whispered  for  a  minute  or  two,  not  wishing  to 
waken  Jesse,  who  still  was  asleep,  his  face 
puckered  up  into  a  frown  as  though  he  were 
uneasy  about  something.  They  tried  to 
steal  out  the  other  tent,  but  their  first  move- 
ment awakened  Jesse,  who  sat  up  rubbing 
his  eyes. 

"What's  the  matter?"  said  he;  "where 
are  we?"  He  smiled  sheepishly  as  the  other 
boys  laughed  at  him. 

"A  good  way  from  home,  you'll  find," 
answered  John. 

The  smell  of  fresh  smoke  came  to  their 
nostrils  from  the  fire,  which  had  been  built  for 
some  time.  So  quiet  had  the  men  been  about 
3  23 


THE  YOUNG  ALASKANS  ON  THE  TRAIL 

their  work  that  they  had  left  the  boys  undis- 
turbed for  the  best  part  of  an  hour.  They 
themselves  had  been  accustomed  to  taking  the 
trail  even  earlier  in  the  day  than  this. 

"Good  morning,  young  gentlemen,"  said 
Alex,  quietly.     "  I  hope  you  slept  well." 

"Well,"  said  Jesse,  grinning,  "I  guess  I 
did,  foi  one." 

11  You'll  been  hongree  ?"  smiled  Moise  at  the 
fireside. 

"  Awfully !"  said  John.  "  I  could  eat  a  piece 
of  raw  bear  meat." 

11  So  ?"  grinned  Moise.  "  Maybe  you'll  seen 
heem  before  we  get  through,  heinf  She'll  not 
been  very  good  for  eat  raw." 

11  Nor  any  other  way,  according  to  my  taste, " 
said  Alex,  "  but  we'll  see  how  we  like  it  cooked, 
perhaps." 

11  Do  you  really  think  we'll  see  any  bear  on 
this  trip?"  asked  Rob. 

"Plenty,"  said  Alex,  quietly. 

"Grizzlies?" 

"Very  likely,  when  we  get  a  little  farther 
into  the  mountains.  We  ought  to  pick  up 
two  or  three  on  this  trip — if  they  don't  pick 
us  up." 

"I'm  not  worrying  about  that,"  said  Rob. 
"We're  old  bear  hunters." 

Both  the  men  looked  at  him  and  laughed. 

24 


STUDYING   OUT  THE   TRAIL 

"Indeed,  we  are,"  insisted  Rob.  "We 
killed  a  bear,  and  an  awfully  big  one,  all  by 
ourselves  up  on  Kadiak  Island.  She  was 
bigger  than  that  tent  there;  and  had  two 
little  ones  besides.  Each  of  them  was  big  as  a 
man,  almost.  They  get  awfully  big  up  there 
in  Alaska.  I'll  bet  you  haven't  a  one  in  all 
these  mountains  as  big  as  one  of  those  fellows 
up  in  our  country." 

"Maybe  not,"  said  Alex,  still  smiling,  "but 
they  get  pretty  near  as  big  as  a  horse  in  here, 
and  I  want  to  tell  you  that  one  of  our  old, 
white-faced  grizzlies  will  give  you  a  hot  time 
enough  if  you  run  across  him — he'll  come  to 
you  without  any  coaxing. ' ' 

"This  is  fine!"  said  Rob.  "I  begin  to 
think  we're  going  to  have  a  good  trip  this 
time." 

"Grub  pile!"  sang  out  Moise  about  this 
time.  A  moment  later  they  were  all  sitting 
on  the  ground  at  the  side  of  the  breakfast 
fire,  eating  of  the  fried  bacon,  bannock,  and 
tea  which  Moise  had  prepared. 

"To-day,  Moise,  she'll  get  feesh,"  said 
Moise,  after  a  time.  "Also  maybe  the  duck. 
I'll  heard  some  wild  goose  seenging  this 
morning  down  on  the  lake  below  there.  She's 
not  far,  I'll  think." 

"Just  a  little  ways,"  said  Alex,  nodding. 
25 


THE  YOUNG  ALASKANS  ON  THE  TRAIL 

"  If  we'd  gone  in  a  little  farther  to  the  west 
we  might  have  hit  the  lake  there,  but  I  thought 
it  was  easier  to  let  the  water  of  this  little 
creek  carry  our  boats  in." 

"Listen!"  said  John.  "Isn't  that  a  little 
bird  singing?" 

A  peal  of  sweet  music  came  to  them  as  they 
sat,  from  a  small  warbler  on  a  near-by  tree. 

"  Those  bird,  he's  all  same  Injun,"  remarked 
Moise.     "He  seeng  for  the  sun." 

The  sun  now  indeed  was  coming  up  in  the 
view  from  the  mountain  ranges  on  the  east, 
though  the  air  still  was  cool  and  the  grass  all 
about  them  still  wet  with  the  morning  dew. 

"  Soon  she'll  get  warm,"  said  Moise.  "  Those 
mosquito,  she'll  begin  to  seeng  now,  too." 

"Yes,"  said  Rob,  "there  were  plenty  of 
them  in  the  tent  this  morning  before  we  got 
up.  We'll  have  to  get  out  the  fly  dope  pretty 
soon,  if  I'm  any  judge." 

"But  now,"  he  added,  "suppose  we  read  a 
little  bit  in  our  book  before  we  break  camp 
and  pack  up." 

"You're  still  reading  Sir  Alexander  and 
his  voyages?"  smiled  Alex. 

"  Yes,  indeed,  I  don't  suppose  we'd  be  here 
if  we  hadn't  read  that  old  book.  It's  going  to 
be  our  guide  all  the  way  through.  I  want  to 
see  just  how  close  we  can  come  to  following 

36 


STUDYING  OUT  THE  TRAIL 

the  trail  Mackenzie  made  when  he  crossed  this 
very  country,  a  hundred  and  eighteen  years 
ago  this  very  month." 

"  Some  say  they  can't  see  how  Sir  Alexander 
made  so  many  mistakes,"  said  Alex,  smiling. 
He  himself  was  a  man  of  considerable  intelli- 
gence and  education,  as  the  boys  already  had 
learned. 

"I  know,"  said  Rob,  nodding.  "For  in- 
stance, Simon  Fraser — " 

"Yes,  I  know  those  Simon  Fraser — he's 
beeg  man  in  the  Companee,"  broke  in  Moise, 
who  very  likely  did  not  know  what  he  was 
talking  about. 

Alex  smiled.  "There  have  always  been 
Mackenzies  and  Frasers  in  the  fur  trade. 
This  was  a  long  time  ago." 

"  How '11  those  boy  know  heem,  then  ?"  said 
Moise.  "I  don't  know.  Some  boy  she'll  read 
more  nowadays  than  when  I'm  leetle.  Better 
they  know  how  to  cook  and  for  to  keel  the 
grizzly,  heinV 

"  Both,"  said  Alex.  "  But  now  we'll  read  a 
little,  if  you  please,  Moise.  Let's  see  where 
we  are  as  nearly  as  we  can  tell,  according  to 
the  old  Mackenzie  journal." 

"I'll  know  where  we  ought  for  be,"  grum- 
bled Moise,  who  did  not  fancy  this  starting- 
place  which  had  been  selected.     "  We'll  ought 

27 


THE  YOUNG  ALASKANS  ON  THE  TRAIL 

to  been  north  many  miles  on  the  portage, 
where  there's  wagon  trail  to  Lake  McLeod." 

"Now,  Moise,"  said  Rob,  "what  fun  would 
that  be?  Of  course  we  could  put  our  boats 
and  outfit  on  a  wagon  or  cart,  and  go  across 
to  Lake  McLeod,  without  any  trouble  at  all. 
Everybody  goes  that  way,  and  has  done  so  for 
years.  But  that  isn't  the  old  canoe  trail  of 
Mackenzie  and  Fraser." 

"  Everybody  goes  on  the  Giscombe  Portage 
now,"  said  Moise. 

"Well,  all  the  fur-traders  used  to  come  in 
here,  at  least  before  they  had  studied  out  this 
country  very  closely.  You  see,  they  didn't 
have  any  maps — they  were  the  ones  who  made 
the  first  maps.  Mackenzie  was  the  first  over, 
and  he  did  it  all  by  himself,  without  any  kind 
of  map  to  help  him." 

"  Yes,  and  when  he  got  over  this  far  he  was 
in  an  awful  fix,"  said  John.  "  I  remember 
where  it  says  his  men  were  going  to  leave 
him  and  go  back  down  the  Peace  River  to  the 
east.  He  wasn't  sure  his  guide  was  going  to 
stick  to  him  until  he  got  over  to  the  Fraser, 
west  of  here." 

"Yes,"  said  Rob,  "and  there  wasn't  any 
Fraser  River  known  by  that  name  at  that 
time.  They  all  thought  it  was  the  Columbia 
River,  which  it  wasn't  by  a  long  way.     But 

28 


STUDYING   OUT  THE  TRAIL 

Sir  Alexander  stuck  it  out,  don't  you  see.  He 
was  a  great  man,  or  he  couldn't  have  done  it. 
I  take  off  my  hat  to  him,  that's  what  I  do." 

And  in  his  enthusiasm,  Rob  did  take  off  his 
hat,  and  his  young  companions  joined  him, 
their  eyes  lighting  with  enthusiasm  for  the 
man  the  simple  story  of  whose  deeds  had 
stirred  their  young  blood. 

Alex  looked  on  approvingly.  "  He  was  of 
my  family,"  said  he.  "Perhaps  my  great- 
grandfather— I  don't  know.  He  was  a  good 
man  in  the  woods.  You  see,  he  went  far  to 
the  north  before  he  came  here — he  followed 
the  Mackenzie  River  to  its  mouth  in  the  Arctic 
Sea.  Then  he  thought  there  must  be  a  way 
across  to  the  Pacific.  Some  one  told  him 
about  the  Peace  River.  That's  how  he  came 
to  make  the  first  trip  over  the  mountains  here. 
By  rights  the  Fraser  River  ought  to  have  been 
named  after  him,  too,  because  he  was  the  first 
to  see  it." 

"But  he  wasn't  the  first  to  run  it  on  out," 
said  John,  who  also  had  a  good  idea  of  the 
geography  hereabouts,  which  he  had  carefully 
studied  in  advance.  "  It  was  Simon  Fraser 
did  that  first." 

"Yes,  they'll  both  been  good  man,  heem," 
said  Moise,  his  mouth  full  of  bacon.  "My 
wife,  she'll  had  an  onkle  once  name  Fraser 

29 


THE  YOUNG  ALASKANS  ON  THE  TRAIL 

an'  he'll  been  seex  feet  high  an'  strong  like  a 
hox — those  Fraser,  yes,  heem." 

"They  must  have  been  strong  men,"  said 
Alex,  "  and  brave  men  as  well." 

"  Their  worst  time  was  getting  west  of  here, 
wasn't  it?"  asked  John. 

"Yes,"  answered  Rob.  "The  book  says 
that  when  they  tried  to  get  down  the  Fraser 
they  had  a  terrible  time.  Sometimes  they 
had  to  carry  their  canoe  through  swamps  and 
over  hills.  No  wonder  the  men  mutinied. 
Why,  they  lost  all  their  bullets,  and  got  every- 
thing they  had  wet.  The  men  almost  lost 
heart." 

Moise  nodded.  "  I'll  onderstan'  that,"  said 
he.     "  Sometime  man  get  tired." 

"  But  you  see  now,  Moise,  why  we  wanted 
to  come  down  here  and  go  over  this  same 
ground  and  not  to  take  the  easy  portage  trail 
into  Lake  McLeod." 

"  All  same  to  me,"  smiled  Moise.  "I'll  don' 
care." 

"  Of  course,  if  we  wanted  to  go  through  the 
easiest  way,"  assented  Rob,  "it  would  be 
simpler  to  go  up  through  McLeod  Lake.  But 
you  see,  that's  something  of  a  way  above  here. 
Finlay  found  that  lake  after  Mackenzie  came 
across,  and  they  had  a  fort  up  there  when 
Fraser   came  through   eighteen   years   later. 

3° 


STUDYING   OUT  THE  TRAIL 

The  Indians  used  to  come  to  that  fort  and 
tell  about  the  salt  water  somewhere  far  to  the 
west.  They  had  brass  and  iron  which  they 
had  got  of  white  men  somewhere  on  the 
Pacific — that  was  more  than  a  hundred  years 
ago.  Fraser  wanted  to  get  across  to  the 
Pacific,  but  he  followed  the  old  Mackenzie 
trail  across  here.  He  started  at  the  Rocky 
Mountain  portage  and  went  up  into  McLeod 
Lake,  and  stopped  there  for  a  while.  But  he 
didn't  start  west  and  northwest,  by  way  of 
Stuart  Lake.  Instead  of  that,  he  followed 
Mackenzie's  journal,  just  as  we're  doing.  He 
came  into  the  little  creek  which  leads  into 
these  lakes — where  we'll  go  down  pretty  soon. 
He  came  right  across  this  lake,  not  a  mile 
from  where  we're  sitting.  Then  he  met 
Indians  in  here,  who  told  him — just  as  Moise 
has  told  us — that  the  best  and  easiest  way  to 
get  across  would  have  been  by  way  of  McLeod 
Lake — the  very  place  he  had  come  from." 

"Well,"  said  Jesse,  "I  agree  with  Moise. 
It  would  be  easier  to  go  where  we  could  have 
wagons  or  carts  or  something  to  take  the  boats 
over.     Everything  looks  mighty  wild  in  here. ' ' 

"Certainly,  Jess,"  said  John,  "that's  why 
we're  here.  I  expect  that  portage  trail  up 
there  is  just  like  a  road." 

"Fur-traders  made  it  first,"  smiled  Alex, 
31 


THE  YOUNG  ALASKANS  ON  THE  TRAIL 

"and  then  the  miners  used  it.  That  was  the 
way  white  men  came  into  the  country  east  of 
the  Rockies,  in  the  far  North." 

"  How  long  ago  was  that  ?"  asked  John. 

"There  were  a  great  many  miners  all  along 
the  Fraser  as  early  as  1857.  Ten  years  later 
than  that,  they  came  up  the  big  bend  of  the 
Columbia.  Many  men  were  killed  on  the 
rapids  in  those  days.  But  they  kept  on  push- 
ing in,  and  in  that  way  they  learned  all  these 
old  trails.  I  expect  some  Fraser  uncle  or 
other  of  Moise's  has  been  across  here  many 
a  time." 

"Seex  feet  high,  an'  strong  like  a  hox," 
smiled  Moise,  nodding  his  head.  "Heem 
good  man,  my  onkle,  yes,  heem." 

"  Well,"  said  Rob,  as  he  bent  over  the  book 
once  more.  "Here's  Sir  Alexander's  story, 
and  here's  a  map  I  made  myself.  That  way, 
to  the  west,  is  the  little  lake  where  the  Bad 
River  runs  out  to  another  river  that  runs  into 
the  Fraser.  This  lake  drains  into  that  little 
lake.  There's  another  lake  east  of  here, 
according  to  the  story ;  and  when  we  get  there 
we'll  strike  a  deep,  clear  creek  which  will  take 
us  pretty  soon  into  the  Parsnip  River.  From 
there  it's  all  down-hill." 

"Yes,"  said  Alex,  smiling,  "considerably 
down-hill." 

32 


STUDYING  OUT  THE  TRAIL 

"  It's  said  there  was  a  current  westward  in 
this  middle  lake,"  began  John. 

"Certainly,"  Rob  answered,  "we  are  really 
now  on  Pacific  waters." 

"How  far  is  it  across  to  the  other  lake?" 
asked  Jesse. 

"The  portage  is  just  eight  hundred  and 
seventeen  paces,"  replied  John,  promptly. 
"  I  remember  that's  what  Mackenzie  wrote 
down." 

"  Fraser  in  his  journal  calls  it '  between  eight 
and  nine  hundred  paces,'  "  said  Rob.  "Any- 
how, that  portage  goes  over  the  top  of  the 
Rocky  Mountain  range  at  this  place — that's 
the  top  of  the  divide.  Nearly  all  these  natural 
passes  in  the  mountains  run  up  on  each  side  to 
a  sort  of  flat  place.  Anyhow,  when  we  get 
over  that  portage  we're  on  Peace  River  waters. 
In  yonder  direction  the  waters  run  into  the 
Pacific.  To  the  east  they  go  into  the  Arctic. 
I'm  ready  to  start  now,  and  anxious  to  get 
over  the  height  of  land." 

"  She'll  be  down-heell  then,"  laughed  Moise. 
"All  same  roof  on  the  house,  maybe  so." 

"You're  not  scared,  are  you,  Moise?" 
asked  Rob,  smiling. 

"Moise,  she'll  sweem  all  same  feesh,"  was 
the  answer  of  the  voyageur. 

"We're  not  going  to  do  any  swimming," 
33 


THE  YOUNG  ALASKANS  ON  THE  TRAIL 

said  Alex,  quietly,  "and  not  even  any  more 
wading  than  we  have  to.  You  see,  our  party 
is  small,  and  we're  going  over  a  trail  that  has 
already  been  explored.  We  travel  light,  and 
have  good  boats.  I  think  we  ought  to  have 
rather  an  easy  time  of  it,  after  all." 

"One  thing,"  broke  in  John,  "that  always 
makes  me  think  less  of  these  early  explorers, 
is  that  they  weren't  really  exploring,  after 
all." 

"  What  do  you  mean  by  that  ?"  asked  Jesse. 
"You  just  said  that  Mackenzie  and  Fraser 
were  the  first  to  come  across  here." 

John  shook  his  head  vigorously.  "  No, 
they  weren't  the  first — as  near  as  I  can  find 
out,  the  white  men  always  had  some  one 
to  tell  them  where  to  go.  When  Mackenzie 
was  going  north  there  was  always  some  tribe 
or  other  to  tell  him  where  he  was  and  what 
there  was  ahead.  It  was  some  Indian  that 
told  him  about  coming  over  this  way  to  the 
west — it  was  Indians  that  guided  him  all 
the  way  across,  for  that  matter,  clear  from 
here  to  the  Pacific." 

"  That's  right,"  said  Rob.  "  If  some  Indian 
hadn't  told  him  about  it,  he  probably  never 
would  have  heard  about  the  creek  which  leads 
into  these  lakes  where  we  are  now.  He  had  a 
guide  when  he  came  here,  and  he  had  a  guide 

34 


STUDYING   OUT  THE  TRAIL 

west  of  the  Fraser,  too — they  never  would 
have  got  through  without  Indians  to  help 
them. ' ' 

"That's  true,"  said  Alex,  not  without  a 
certain  pride  in  the  red  race  which  had  given 
him  half  his  own  blood.  "  The  whites  haven't 
always  used  the  Indians  well,  but  without 
native  help  they  could  never  have  taken  this 
northern  country.  The  Beaver  Indians  used 
to  hunt  all  through  these  mountains.  It  was 
those  men  who  told  Mackenzie  how  to  get 
over  here.  He  was  told,  weeks  before  he  got 
here,  that  there  was  a  carrying-place  across 
the  great  hills  to  the  western  waters.  As 
you  say,  young  gentlemen,  he  had  guides 
all  the  way  across.  So,  after  all,  as  we 
have  only  him  and  Fraser  for  guides,  we'll 
take  a  little  credit  to  ourselves,  just  as  he 
did!" 

"Yes,"  said  Moise.  "My  people,  she'll 
own  this  whole  contree.  They'll  show  the 
Companee  how  to  take  hold,  all  right.  But 
that's  all  right;  I'm  glad,  me." 

"It  looks  a  little  tame,"  grumbled  John, 
"coming  through  here  where  those  old  fur- 
traders  knew  every  foot  of  the  country." 

"Well,  we'll  see,"  said  Alex,  rising,  filling 
his  pipe  and  tightening  his  belt  to  begin  the 
day's  work.     "  It  may  not  look  so  tame  before 

35 


THE  YOUNG  ALASKANS  ON  THE  TRAIL 

we  get  through !  "  But  first,"  he  added,  "  we'll 
have  to  see  if  we  can  get  the  boats  to  the  open 
water  of  the  lake.  Come,  it's  time  to  break 
camp  now  for  the  first  day's  journey." 


IV 

THE    GREAT    DIVIDE 

TO  boys  as  familiar  with  camp  work  as 
were  Rob,  John,  and  Jesse,  the  work  of 
breaking  camp  in  the  morning  was  simple. 
In  a  few  moments  they  had  their  tent  down 
and  rolled  up  ready  to  put  in  the  canoe.  Their 
beds  also  were  rolled,  each  in  its  own  canvas, 
and  lashed  with  a  rope.  Their  rifles,  which, 
kept  dry  in  their  cases,  had  been  placed  under 
the  edge  of  their  blankets  as  they  slept,  were 
now  leaned  against  the  bed-rolls.  Their 
knapsacks,  in  which  each  boy  had  his  personal 
belongings,  such  as  brushes,  combs,  under- 
wear and  spare  socks,  were  very  quickly  made 
ready,  and  placed  in  order  each  with  its 
owner's  bed-roll.  In  a  very  few  minutes  they 
stood  up  and  showed  Alex  that  they  were 
ready. 

Meantime,  Moise  had  put  his  pots  and  pans 
into  the  sack  which  served  him  as  a  cook's 
box.  His  flour  and  bacon  he  quickly  got 
ready  in  their  packages,  and  even  before  the 

37 


THE  YOUNG  ALASKANS  ON  THE  TRAIL 

boys  were  done  with  their  work  he  was  carry- 
ing these  parcels  down  to  the  first  canoe,  which 
was  to  serve  as  the  cook's  boat.  The  beds  of 
Moise  and  Alex,  simple  as  they  were,  required 
only  a  roll  or  two  to  be  ready  for  the  boats. 

"We'll  fix  a  system,"  said  Alex,  "so  that 
we'll  load  each  boat  just  the  same  every  day. 
There's  nothing  like  being  regular  when  you're 
on  the  trail." 

"I'll  bet,  Alex,  she'll  not  be  a  harder  boss 
than  ol'  Pete  Fraser,  my  wife,  he's  onkle,"  de- 
clared Moise.  "  He'll  make  those  men  get  up 
by  two,  three,  in  the  morning  an'  track  two, 
three  hour  before  she'll  eat  breakfast,  heem." 

"  Well,  you  see,  we  had  to  do  a  little  reading 
this  morning,"  remarked  John. 

"Surely,  and  to  very  good  purpose,"  an- 
swered Alex.  "  You  ought  to  keep  track  of 
the  old  journal  day  by  day." 

"Exactly,"  said  Rob,  "and  I'm  going  to 
keep  a  journal  of  my  own  each  day.  We 
haven't  got  any  sextant  to  take  observations, 
but  I've  got  all  the  maps,  and  I've  got  a  com- 
pass— maybe  we'll  get  out  a  Voyage  of  Dis- 
coveries of  our  own  some  day!" 

"Now,  Moise,"  said  Alex,  "you're  to  go 
ahead  with  the  cook-boat.  You'd  better 
take  Mr.  Rob  for  your  bow  paddler.  I'll  let 
Mr.  John  take  the  bow  in  my  boat,  and  our 

33 


THE   GREAT   DIVIDE 

youngest  friend  here  will  go  amidships,  sitting 
flat  on  the  bottom  of  the  canoe,  with  his  back 
against  his  bed-roll.  The  blankets  and  tent 
will  make  the  seats.  Of  course,  Moise,  you're 
not  to  go  too  far  ahead.  It's  always  a  good 
plan  to  keep  in  sight  of  the  wangan-box 
and  the  cook's  chest,  when  you're  in  the 
woods." 

"All  right,"  replied  Moise,  "I'll  go  slow 
with  those  boy  all  the  time,  yes." 

"Well,  we're  not  any  of  us  scared  yet," 
said  John,  stoutly,  "  and  we  won't  be." 

"  I  hope  we'll  get  some  white  water  to 
run,"  added  Rob,  his  eyes  shining.  Jesse  was 
the  only  one  who  seemed  to  be  not  wholly 
happy.  The  silence  of  the  great  hills  about 
him,  situated  as  they  now  were  far  from  all 
human  habitation,  made  him  feel  rather  lone- 
some. He  kept  up  a  stout  heart,  however, 
and  soon  forgot  his  troubles  when  the  actual 
bustle  of  the  departure  was  begun. 

"  You'd  better  take  the  axes,  Mr.  Rob,  and 
go  ahead  and  cut  out  the  way  a  little  bit  on 
this  little  creek,"  said  Alex.  "  I'm  afraid  the 
boats  won't  quite  clear." 

"Aye,   aye,    sir."    said    Rob,  and  soon  he 

and  the  other  boys  were  making  their  way  in 

among  the  tangled  thicket,  sometimes  in  and 

sometimes  out  of  the  water,  chopping  away 

4  39 


THE  YOUNG  ALASKANS  ON  THE  TRAIL 

the  branches  so  that  the  little  boats  could  get 
through. 

"Will  they  float,  do  you  think,  Mr.  Rob?" 
called  Alex. 

"Like  a  bird!"  answered  Rob,  as  the  first 
canoe,  which  was  named  the  Mary  Ann,  soon 
took  the  water. 

"Here  comes  the  Jaybird!"  cried  Jesse,  as 
they  pushed  the  other  canoe  over  the  last  foot 
or  so  of  grass  which  lay  between  it  and  the 
water. 

"Those  boat  she'll  be  all  same  like  ducks," 
exclaimed  Moise,  admiringly.  "I'll  bet  not 
even  my  onkle  Pete  Fraser  he'll  have  better 
boat  like  those." 

"Sir  Alexander's  boat  was  twenty-five  or 
thirty  feet  long,  all  made  out  of  birch-bark," 
said  Rob.  "Ours  aren't  much  over  sixteen 
feet." 

"They  had  eight  or  ten  men  in  their  boats," 
began  John,  "and  the  most  we'll  have  in 
either  of  ours  will  be  three — that  is,  if  you 
count  Jess  as  a  full-sized  man !" 

"Yes,"  said  Alex,  "and  they  had  a  number 
of  packs,  each  weighing  ninety  pounds.  Now, 
all  our  packs  won't  weigh  a  great  deal  more 
than  that  for  each  boat,  counting  in  what 
we're  going  to  eat.  We'll  have  to  get  some- 
thing in  the  way  of  meat  as  we  go  on  through. 

40 


THE  GREAT  DIVIDE 

Fine  boats  these,  and  much  better  than  birch- 
bark.  Perhaps  you  may  remember  that  Sir 
Alexander  was  having  trouble  to  find  good 
bark  to  mend  his  boats  before  he  got  in  here. 
We'll  not  need  to  trouble  about  that." 

"No,"  said  Rob,  "we've  got  plenty  of 
canvas,  and  rubber  cement,  and  shellac,  and 
tacks,  and  cord,  and  wire.  We'll  make  it 
through,  even  if  we  do  have  some  little 
breaks." 

"  I  don't  think  we'll  have  any,"  replied  Alex 
in  a  reassuring  way.  "  Moise,  don't  you  think 
your  load  settles  your  canoe  just  a  little 
deeper  than  she  ought  to  go  ?" 

"  Non!  Non!"  said  Moise,  in  reply,  casting 
a  judicial  look  at  the  low  freeboard  of  the 
Mary  Ann.     "She'll  go,  those  boat." 

"She'll  be  getting  lighter  all  the  time," 
ventured  Jesse.  "John  gets  awfully  hungry, 
and  he'll  eat  a  lot!" 

They  all  laughed  heartily  at  this  reference 
to  John's  well-known  appetite.  All  were  in 
good  spirits  when  the  real  progress  down  the 
tangled  creek  began. 

"En  roulant,  ma  boule,  roulant!"  began 
Moise,  as  he  shoved  out  his  boat — the  words 
of  the  old  Canadian  voyageurs1  boat  song, 
known  for  generations  on  all  the  waterways 
of  the  North. 

41 


THE  YOUNG  ALASKANS  ON  THE  TRAIL 

"Better  wait  until  we  get  into  the  lake," 
smiled  Alex.  "  I  don't  think  we  can  '  roll  the 
ball,'  as  you  call  it,  very  much  in  among  these 
bushes." 

They  moved  on  down  now,  pushing  and 
pulling  their  boat  when  they  could  not  paddle 
or  pole  it.  Sometimes  they  had  to  force  their 
way  through  an  embarras,  as  the  voyageurs 
call  a  pile  of  driftwood.  The  boys,  however, 
only  enjoyed  this  sort  of  work.  They  were 
wet,  but  happy,  when,  after  some  time  passed 
in  this  slow  progress,  at  last  they  saw  the  open 
waters  of  the  lake  fully  before  them. 

"  En  voyage,  messieurs"  cried  Moise.  "We 
begin!" 


CROSSING    THE    HEIGHT    OF    LAND 

OEFORE  our  young  trail-makers  now  lay 
*— '  the  expanse  of  one  of  those  little  moun- 
tain lakes  which  sometimes  are  forgotten  by 
the  map-makers.  The  ground  immediately 
about  the  edge  of  the  lake  was  low,  flat,  and 
overgrown.  Only  a  gentle  ripple  crossed  the 
surface  of  the  lake,  for  almost  no  air  at  all  was 
stirring.  Out  of  a  near-by  cove  a  flock  of 
young  wild  geese,  scarcely  able  to  fly,  started 
off,  honking  in  excitement;  and  here  and 
there  a  wild  duck  broke  the  surface  into  a 
series  of  ripples ;  or  again  a  fish  sprang  into  the 
air,  as  it  went  about  its  own  breakfast  opera- 
tions for  the  day.  It  was  an  inspiring  scene  for 
all,  and  for  the  time  the  Young  Alaskans 
paused,  taking  in  its  beauty. 

"77  fait  beau,  ce  matin"  said  Moise,  in  the 
French  which  made  half  or  more  of  his  speech. 
"  She'll  been  fine  morning  this  day,  what  ?" 

"Couldn't  be  better,"  assented  Alex,  who 
stood  knee-deep  at  the  edge  of  the  lake,  and 
who  now  calmly  removed  his  moccasins  and 

43 


THE  YOUNG  ALASKANS  ON  THE  TRAIL 

spread  them  on  the  thwart  of  the  boat  before 
he  stepped  lightly  in  to  take  his  place  at  the 
stern  of  the  Jaybird.  The  boys  noticed  that 
when  he  stepped  aboard  he  hardly  caused  the 
boat  to  dip  to  one  side  or  the  other.  This  he 
managed  by  placing  his  paddle  on  the  farther 
side  of  the  boat  from  him  and  putting  part  of 
his  weight  on  it,  as  it  rested  on  the  bottom  at 
the  other  side  of  the  boat.  All  the  boys, 
observing  the  methods  of  this  skilled  canoe- 
man,  sought  to  imitate  his  example.  Pres- 
ently they  were  all  aboard,  Rob  in  the  bow 
of  the  Mary  Ann,  John  taking  that  place  for 
the  Jaybird,  with  Jesse  cuddled  up  amidships. 

"Well,"  said  Alex,  "here's  where  we  start. 
For  me,  I  don't  care  whether  we  go  to  the 
Pacific  or  the  Arctic!" 

"Nor  me  no  more,"  added  Moise.  "Only 
I'll  rather  go  downheel  as  upheel,  me— always 
I'll  rather  ron  the  rapeed  than  track  the  boat 
up  the  rapeed  on  the  bank.  Well,  en  roulant, 
eh,  M'sieu  Alex?" 

"Roulant!"  answered  Alex,  briefly.  Moise, 
setting  his  paddle  into  the  water  with  a  great 
sweep,  began  once  more  the  old  canoe  song. 

"  Le  fils  du  roi  s'en  va  chassant 
En  roulant,  ma  boule! 
Avec  son  grand  fusil  d'argent 
En  roulant,  ma  boule  /" 

44 


CROSSING  THE   HEIGHT  OF   LAND 

So  they  fared  on  merrily,  the  strong  arms 
of  the  two  skilled  boatmen  pushing  the  light 
canoes  rapidly  through  the  rippling  water. 
Moise,  a  strong  and  skilful  paddler,  was  more 
disposed  to  sudden  bursts  of  energy  than  was 
the  soberer  and  quieter  Alex,  who,  none  the 
less,  came  along  not  far  in  the  rear  with  slow 
and  easy  strokes  which  seemed  to  require  little 
exertion  on  his  part,  although  they  drove  the 
boat  straight  and  true  as  an  arrow.  The 
boys  at  the  bow  paddles  felt  the  light  craft 
spring  under  them,  but  each  did  his  best  to 
wrork  his  own  passage,  and  this  much  to  the 
approval  of  the  older  men,  who  gave  them 
instructions  in  the  art  of  paddling. 

"You'll  see,  M'sieu  Rob,"  said  Moise, 
"these  paddle  she'll  be  all  same  like  fin  of 
those  feesh.  You'll  pull  square  with  heem 
till  she'll  get  behind  you,  then  she'll  turn  on 
her  edge  just  a  little  bit — so.  That  way,  you 
paddle  all  time  on  one  side.  The  paddle 
when  she'll  come  out  of  water,  she'll  keep  the 
boat  running  straight." 

The  distance  from  their  point  of  embarka- 
tion to  the  eastern  edge  of  the  little  lake  could 
not  have  been  more  than  a  couple  of  miles,  for 
the  entire  distance  from  the  western  to  the 
eastern  edge  was  not  over  three  miles.  In 
what  seemed  no  more  than  a  few  moments  the 

45 


THE  YOUNG  ALASKANS  ON  THE  TRAIL 

boats  pulled  up  at  the  western  end  of  what 
was  to  be  their  first  portage. 

"Now,"  said  Moise,  "we'll  show  those  boy 
how  a  Companee  man  make  the  portage." 
He  busied  himself  arranging  his  packs,  first 
calling  for  the  tent,  on  which  he  placed  one 
package  after  another.  Then  he  turned  in 
the  ends  of  the  canvas  and  folded  over  the 
sides,  rolling  all  up  into  a  big  bundle  of  very 
mixed  contents  which,  none  the  less,  he 
fastened  by  means  of  the  strap  which  now 
served  him  as  support  for  it  all. 

"I  know  how  you  did  that,"  said  Rob — "I 
watched  you  put  the  strap  down  inside  of  the 

roll." 

"Yes,"  said  Moise,  smiling,  "she'll  been 
what  Injun  call  tump-strap.  White  man 
he'll  carry  on  hees  shoulder,  but  Injun  an' 
voyagcur,  she'll  put  the  tump-band  on  her 
head,  what?  That's  best  way  for  much 
load." 

Moise  now  proceeded  to  prove  the  virtue 
of  his  remarks.  He  was  a  very  powerful 
man,  and  he  now  swung  up  the  great  pack  to 
his  shoulders,  although  it  must  have  weighed 
much  over  a  hundred  and  fifty  pounds  and 
included  almost  the  full  cargo  of  the  foremost 
boat. 

"Throw  something  on  top  of  her,"  said 
46 


CROSSING  THE   HEIGHT  OF   LAND 

Moise.  "She'll  been  too  light!  I'm  afraid 
I'll  ron  off,  me." 

"Well,  look  at  that  man,"  said  Jesse,  ad- 
miringly. "  I  didn't  know  any  man  was  so 
strong." 

"Those  Companee  man,  she'll  have  to  be 
strong  like  hox!"  said  Moise,  laughing. 
"You'll  ought  to  seen  heem.  Me,  I'm  not 
ver'  strong.  Two,  three  hondred  pounds, 
she'll  make  me  tire." 

"Well,  trot  on  over,  Moise,"  said  Alex, 
"and  I'll  bring  the  boat.  Young  gentlemen, 
each  of  you  will  take  what  he  can  conveniently 
carry.  Don't  strain  yourselves,  but  each  of 
you  do  his  part.  That's  the  way  we  act  on 
the  trail." 

The  boys  now  shouldered  their  small  knap- 
sacks and,  each  carrying  his  rifle  and  rod, 
started  after  the  two  stalwart  men  who  now 
went  on  rapidly  across  the  portage. 

Moise  did  not  set  down  his  pack  at  all,  but 
trotted  steadily  across,  and  Alex  followed, 
although  he  turned  at  the  summit  and  mo- 
tioned to  Rob  to  pause. 

"You'd  hardly  know  it,"  said  Rob,  turn- 
ing to  John  and  Jesse,  who  now  put  down 
their  packs,  "  but  here  we  are  at  the  top  of  this 
portage  trail  and  the  top  of  the  Peace  River 
pass.     Here   was   where   old    Sir   Alexander 

47 


THE  YOUNG  ALASKANS  ON  THE  TRAIL 

really  turned  toward  the  west,  just  as  we  now 
are  turning  toward  the  east.  It's  fine,  isn't 
it?" 

"I'm  glad  I  came,"  remarked  John. 

"And  so  am  I,"  added  Jesse;  "I  believe 
we're  going  to  have  a  good  time.  I  like  those 
two  men  awfully  well — they're  just  as  kind, 
and  my !   how  strong ! ' ' 

Presently  they  all  met  again  at  the  eastern 
edge  of  the  dim  trail.  "  I  stepped  it  myself," 
said  John,  proudly.  "  Both  Sir  Alexander  and 
old  Simon  Fraser  were  wrong — she's  just  six 
hundred  and  ninety-three  paces!" 

"Maybe  they  had  longer  legs  than  you," 
smiled  Alex.  "At  any  rate,  there's  no  doubt 
about  the  trail  itself.  We're  precisely  where 
they  were." 

"  What  made  them  call  that  river  the  Par- 
snip River?"  demanded  Jesse  of  Alex,  to 
whom  he  went  for  all  sorts  of  information. 

"  I'll  show  you,"  said  Alex,  quietly,  reaching 
down  and  breaking  off  the  top  of  a  green  herb 
which  grew  near  by.  "It  was  because  of  the 
wild  parsnips — this  is  one.  You'll  find  where 
Sir  Alexander  mentions  seeing  a  great  many  of 
these  plants.  They  used  the  tops  in  their 
pemmican.  You  see,  the  north  men  have 
to  eat  so  much  meat  that  they're  glad  to  get 
anything  green  to  go  with  it  once  in  a  while." 

48 


CROSSING  THE  HEIGHT  OF  LAND 

"  What's  pemmican  ?"  asked  Jesse,  curiously. 

11  We  used  to  make  it  out  of  buffalo  meat,  or 
moose  or  caribou,"  said  Alex.  "The  buffalo 
are  all  gone  now,  and,  in  fact,  we  don't  get 
much  pemmican  any  more.  It's  made  by 
drying  meat  and  pounding  it  up  fine  with  a 
stone,  then  putting  it  in  a  hide  sack  and 
pouring  grease  in  on  top  of  it.  That  used  to 
be  the  trail  food  of  the  voyageurs,  because  a 
little  of  it  would  go  a  good  way.  Do  you 
think  yott  could  make  any  of  it  for  the  boys, 
Moise?" 

"I  don'  know,"  grinned  Moise.  "Those 
squaw,  she'll  make  pemmican — not  the  hon- 
ter.  Besides,  we'll  not  got  meat.  Maybe  so 
if  we'll  get  moose  deer  we  could  make  some, 
if  we  stop  long  tarn  in  camp.  But  always 
squaw  make  pemmican — not  man." 

"Well,  we'll  have  to  give  some  kind  of 
imitation  of  the  old  ways  once  in  a  while," 
commented  Alex,  "for  though  they  are 
changed  and  gone,  our  young  friends  here 
want  to  know  how  the  fur-traders  used  to 
travel." 

"One  thing,"  said  John,  feeling  at  his 
ankle.  "I'll  be  awfully  glad  when  we  get  out 
of  the  devil's  club  country." 

"Do  you  have  those  up  in  Alaska?"  asked 
Alex. 

49 


THE  YOUNG  ALASKANS  ON  THE  TRAIL 

"Have  them? — I  should  say  we  have! 
They're  the  meanest  thing  you  can  run  across 
out  of  doors.  If  you  step  on  one  of  those 
long,  snaky  branches,  it  '11  turn  around  and 
hit  you,  no  matter  where  you  are,  and  when- 
ever it  hits  those  little  thorns  stick  in  and 

stay." 

"  I  know,"  nodded  Alex.  "  I  struck  plenty 
of  them  on  the  trail  up  north  from  the  rail- 
road. They  went  right  through  my  mocca- 
sins. We'll  not  be  troubled  by  these,  how- 
ever, when  we  get  east  of  the  divide — that's  a 
plant  which  belongs  in  the  wet  country  of  the 
western  slope." 

All  this  time  Moise  was  busy  rearranging 
the  cargoes  in  the  first  boat,  leaving  on  the 
shore,  however,  such  parcels  as  did  not  belong 
in  the  Mary  Ann.  Having  finished  this  to 
his  liking,  he  turned  before  they  made  the 
second  trip  on  the  Jaybird  and  her  cargo. 

"Don't  we  catch  any  of  those  feesh?"  he 
asked  Alex,  nodding  back  at  the  lake. 

"Fish?"  asked  John.  "I  didn't  see  any 
fish." 

"  Plenty  trout,"  said  Moise.  "  I  s'pose  we'll 
better  catch  some  while  we  can." 

"  Yes,"  said  Alex,  "  I  think  that  might  be  a 
good  idea.  Now,  if  we  had  a  net  such  as  Sir 
Alexander  and  old  Simon  Fraser  always  took 

50 


CROSSING  THE   HEIGHT  OF   LAND 


along,  we'd  have  no  trouble.  Moise  saw 
what  I  also  saw,  and  which  you  young  gentle- 
men did  not  notice — a  long  bar  of  gravel 
where  the  trout  were  feeding." 

"  We'll  not  need  any  net,"  said  Rob.  "  Here 
are  our  fly-rods  and  our  reels.  If  there  are  any 
trout  rising,  we  can  soon  catch  plenty  of 
them." 

"Very  well.  We'd  better  take  the  rods 
back,  then,  when  we  go  for  the  second  boat." 

When  they  got  to  the  shore  of  the  middle 
lake,  the  boys  saw  that  the  keener  eyes  of  the 
old  voyageurs  had  noted  what  they  had  missed 
— a  series  of  ripples  made  by  feeding  fish  not 
far  from  the  point  where  they  had  landed. 

"Look  at  that!"  cried  Jesse.  "I  see  them 
now,  myself." 

"Better  you'll  take  piece  pork  for  those 
feesh,"  said  Moise. 

"I  don't  think  we'll  need  it,"  replied  Rob. 
"  We've  plenty  of  flies,  and  these  trout  won't 
be  very  wild  up  here,  for  no  one  fishes  for 
them.  Anyhow,  we'll  try  it— you'll  push  us 
out,  won't  you,  Moise?" 

Carefully  taking  their  places  now  in  the  Jay- 
bird, whose  cargo  was  placed  temporarily  on 
the  bank,  the  three  boys  and  Moise  now  pushed 
out.  As  Rob  had  predicted,  the  fish  were 
feeding  freely,  and  there  was  no  difficulty  in 

51 


THE  YOUNG  ALASKANS  ON  THE  TRAIL 

catching  three  or  four  dozen  of  them,  some  of 
very  good  weight.  The  bottom  of  the  canoe 
was  pretty  well  covered  with  fish  when  at 
length,  after  an  hour  or  so  of  this  sport,  Moise 
thought  it  was  time  to  return  to  shore,  where 
Alex,  quietly  smoking  all  the  time,  had  sat 
awaiting  them. 

"Now  we'll  have  plenty  for  eat  quite  a 
while,"  said  Moise. 

"  That's  all  right,"  said  John.  "  I'm  getting 
mighty  hungry.  How  long  is  it  going  to  be 
before  we  have  something  to  eat  ?" 

"Why,  John,"  said  Rob,  laughingly,  "the 
morning  isn't  half  gone  yet,  and  we've  just 
had  breakfast." 


VI 

FOLLOWING    MACKENZIE 

WELL,"  said  Alex,  "now  we've  got  all 
these  fish,  we'll  have  to  take  care  of 
them.  Come  ahead  and  let's  clean  them, 
Moise." 

The  boys  all  fell  to  and  assisted  the  men  at 
this  work,  Moise  showing  them  how  to  prepare 
the  fish. 

"How  are  we  going  to  keep  them?"  asked 
John,  who  always  seemed  to  be  afraid  there 
would  not  be  enough  to  eat. 

"Well,"  explained  Alex,  "we'll  put  them 
in  between  some  green  willow  boughs  and  keep 
them  that  way  till  night.  Then  I  suppose 
we'll  have  to  smoke  them  a  little — hang  them 
up  by  the  tail  the  way  the  Injuns  do.  That's 
the  way  we  do  whitefish  in  the  north.  If  it 
weren't  for  the  fish  which  we  catch  in  these 
northern  waters,  we'd  all  starve  to  death  in  the 
winter,  and  so  would  our  dogs,  all  through  the 
fur  country." 

"By  the  time  we're  done  this  trip,"  ven- 
53 


THE  YOUNG  ALASKANS  ON  THE  TRAIL 

tured  Rob,  "we'll  begin  to  be  voyageurs  our- 
selves, and  will  know  how  to  make  our  living 
in  the  country." 

"That's  the  talk!"  said  Alex,  admiringly. 
"  The  main  thing  is  to  learn  to  do  things  right. 
Each  country  has  its  own  ways,  and  usually 
they  are  the  most  useful  ways.  An  Injun 
never  wants  to  do  work  that  he  doesn't  have  to 
do.  So,  you'll  pretty  much  always  see  that 
the  Injun  ways  of  keeping  camp  aren't  bad 
to  follow  as  an  example,  after  all. 

"But  now,"  said  he  at  length,  after  they 
had  finished  cleaning  and  washing  off  their 
trout,  "we'll  have  to  get  on  across  to  the 
other  lake." 

As  before,  Moise  now  took  the  heavier  pack 
on  his  own  broad  shoulders,  and  Alex  once 
more  picked  up  the  canoe. 

"  She's  a  little  lighter  than  the  other  boat, 
I  believe,"  said  he,  "but  they're  both  good 
boats,  as  sure's  you're  born — you  can't  beat  a 
Peterborough  model  in  the  woods!" 

The  other  boys  noticed  now  that  when  he 
carried  his  canoe,  he  did  so  by  placing  a 
paddle  on  each  side,  threaded  under  and 
above  the  thwarts  so  as  to  form  a  support  on 
each  side,  which  rested  on  his  shoulders.  His 
head  would  have  been  covered  entirely  by  the 
boat  as  he  stood,  were  it  not  that  he  let  it 

54 


FOLLOWING  MACKENZIE 

drop  backward  a  little,  so  that  he  could  see 
the  trail  ahead  of  him.  Rob  pointed  out  to 
Jesse  all  these  different  things,  with  which 
their  training  in  connection  with  the  big  Alas- 
kan sea-going  dugouts  had  not  made  them 
familiar. 

"Have  we  got  everything  now,  fellows?" 
asked  Rob,  making  a  last  search  before  they 
left  the  scene  of  their  disembarkation. 

"All  set!"  said  John.     "Here  we  go!" 

It  required  now  but  a  few  moments  to  make 
the  second  traverse  of  the  portage,  and  soon 
the  boats  again  were  loaded.  They  found 
this  most  easterly  of  the  three  lakes  on  the 
summit  to  be  of  about  the  same  size  as  the 
one  which  they  had  just  left.  It  was  rather 
longer  than  it  was  wide,  and  they  could  see  at 
its  eastern  side  the  depression  where  the  outlet 
made  off  toward  the  east.  Again  taking  their 
places  at  the  paddles  in  the  order  established 
at  the  start  of  the  day,  they  rapidly  pushed  on 
across.  They  found  now  that  this  lake  dis- 
charged through  a  little  creek  which  rapidly 
became  deep  and  clear. 

"It's  going  to  be  just  the  way,"  said  Rob, 
"that  Sir  Alexander  tells.  I  say,  fellows,  we 
could  take  that  boat  and  come  through  here 
in  the  dark,  no  matter  what  Simon  Fraser 
said  about  Sir  Alexander." 
5  55 


THE  YOUNG  ALASKANS  ON  THE  TRAIL 

They  found  the  course  down  this  little 
waterway  not  troublesome,  and  fared  on  down 
the  winding  stream  until  at  length  they  heard 
the  sound  of  running  water  just  beyond. 

''That's  the  Parsnip  now,  no  doubt,"  said 
Alex,  quietly,  to  his  young  charges.  Already 
Moise  had  pushed  the  Mary  Ann  over  the  last 
remaining  portion  of  the  stream,  and  she  was 
floating  fair  and  free  on  the  current  of  the 
second  stream,  not  much  larger  than  the  one 
from  which  they  now  emerged. 

"Voila!"  Moise  exclaimed.  "She'll  been 
the  Peace  River — or  what  those  voyageur  call 
the  Parsneep.  Now,  I'll  think  we  make  fast 
ride,  yes." 

Jesse,  leaning  back  against  his  bed-roll, 
looked  a  little  serious. 

"Boys,"  said  he,  "I  don't  like  the  looks  of 
this.  This  water  sounds  dangerous  to  me, 
and  you  can't  tell  me  but  what  these  moun- 
tains are  pretty  steep." 

"Pshaw!  It's  just  a  little  creek,"  scoffed 
John. 

"  That's  all  right,  but  a  little  creek  gets  to 
be  a  big  river  mighty  fast  up  in  this  country — 
we've  seen  them  up  in  Alaska  many  a  time. 
Look  at  the  snow-fields  back  in  those  moun- 
tains!" 

"Don't  be  alarmed,  Mr.  Jess,"  said  Alex; 
56 


FOLLOWING  MACKENZIE 

"most  of  the  snow  has  gone  down  in  the  June 
rise.  The  water  is  about  as  low  now  as  it  is  at 
any  time  of  the  year.  Now,  if  we  were  here 
on  high  water,  as  Simon  Eraser  was,  and  going 
the  other  way,  we  might  have  our  own  trou- 
bles— I  expect  he  found  all  this  country  under 
water  where  we  are  now,  and  the  current  must 
have  been  something  pretty  stiff  to  climb 
against." 

"In  any  case,"  Rob  added,  "we're  just  in 
the  same  shape  that  Sir  Alexander  and  old 
Simon  were  when  they  were  here.  We 
wouldn't  care  to  turn  back,  and  we've  got  to 
go  through.  If  they  did  it,  so  can  we.  I 
don't  believe  this  stream's  as  bad,  anyhow,  as 
the  Fraser  or  the  Columbia,  because  the  traders 
must  have  used  it  for  a  regular  route  long 
ago." 

"I  was  reading,"  said  John,  "in  Simon 
Fraser 's  travels,  about  how  they  did  in  the 
rapids  of  the  Fraser  River.  Why,  it  was  a 
wonder  they  ever  got  through  at  all.  But 
they  didn't  seem  to  make  much  fuss  about  it. 
Those  men  didn't  know  where  they  were  going, 
either — they  just  got  in  their  boat  and  turned 
loose,  not  knowing  what  there  was  on  ahead! 
That's  what  I  call  nerve.  Pshaw!  Jess,  we're 
only  tenderfeet  compared  to  those  chaps!" 

"That's  the  talk!"  commented  Alex,  once 
57 


THE  YOUNG  ALASKANS  ON  THE  TRAIL 

more  lighting  his  pipe  and  smiling.  "We'll 
go  through  like  a  bird,  I'm  pretty  sure." 

"Yes,"  said  Moise,  "we'll  show  those  boy 
how  the  voyageur  ron  the  rapeed." 

"  One  thing  I  want  to  say  to  you  young 
gentlemen,"  resumed  Alex,  "  not  to  alarm  you, 
but  to  teach  you  how  to  travel.  If  by  any 
accident  the  boat  should  upset,  hang  to  the 
boat  and  don't  try  to  swim.  The  current 
will  be  very  apt  to  sweep  you  on  through  to 
some  place  where  you  can  get  a  footing.  But 
all  these  mountain  waters  are  very  strong  and 
very  cold.  Whatever  you  do,  hang  to  the 
boat!" 

"  Yes!"  said  Rob,  "'don't  give  up  the  ship,' 
as  Lawrence  said.  Sir  Alexander  tells  how  he 
got  wrecked  on  the  Bad  River  with  his  whole 
crew.  But  they  hung  to  the  canoe  and  got 
her  out  at  the  foot  of  the  rapids,  after  all,  and 
not  one  of  them  was  hurt." 

"  He  didn't  lose  a  man  on  the  whole  trip,  for 
that  matter,"  John  added. 

"Well,  now,  let's  see  about  the  rapids," 
said  Rob  again,  spreading  out  his  map  and 
opening  one  of  his  books  which  he  always 
kept  close  at  hand.  "Simon  Fraser  tells  us 
day  by  day  what  he  did  when  he  was  going 
west.  They  got  into  that  lake  we've  just  left, 
about  noon.     They  must  have  poked  up  the 

58 


FOLLOWING  MACKENZIE 

creek  some  time,  and  very  early  that  same 
morning.  That  was  June  thirtieth,  and  on  the 
same  day  they  passed  another  river  coming  in 
from  the  west  side — which  must  be  between 
here  and  the  outlet  from  McLeod  Lake." 

"What  does  the  map  say  about  the  other 
side  of  the  stream?"  asked  John,  peering  over 
Rob's  shoulder. 

"  Well,  on  the  twenty-eighth,  as  they  were 
coming  up  they  passed  two  rivers  coming  in 
from  the  east.  That  can't  be  very  far  below 
here,  and  the  first  stream  on  the  west  side  must 
be  pretty  close,  from  all  I  can  learn.  Below 
there,  on  the  twenty-seventh,  there  was  an- 
other river  which  they  passed  coming  in  from 
the  east,  and  Simon  says  near  its  mouth  there 
was  a  rapid.  He  doesn't  seem  to  mention  any 
rapids  between  there  and  here — probably  it 
had  to  be  a  pretty  big  one  for  him  to  take  any 
notice  of  it.  That's  two  or  three  days  down- 
stream, according  to  his  journal,  and,  as  Alex 
says,  it  was  high  water,  and  they  made  slow 
time  coming  up — not  as  fast  as  Sir  Alexander 
did,  in  fact." 

"Plenty  good  water,"  said  Moise,  looking 
out  over  the  rapid  little  stream  with  pro- 
fessional approval.     "She's  easy  river." 

"Then  we  ought  to  make  some  sort  of 
voyage,"  said  Rob.     "  You  see,  Sir  Alexander 

59 


THE  YOUNG  ALASKANS  ON  THE  TRAIL 

took  thirty-four  days  coming  up  to  this  point 
from  the  place  where  he  started,  far  east  of 
the  Rockies,  but  going  downhill  it  only  took 
him  six  days." 

"That  was  going  some,"  nodded  John, 
emphatically,  if  not  elegantly. 

"But  not  faster  than  we'll  be  going,"  an- 
swered Rob.  "  You  see,  it  took  him  a  sixth 
of  the  time  to  go  east  which  it  needed  to  come 
west.  Then,  what  they  did  in  three  days 
coming  up,  we  ought  to  run  in  a  half -day  or 
less  going  down." 

Alex  nodded  approvingly.  "  I  think  it 
would  figure  out  something  like  that  way," 
said  he. 

"So  if  we  started  now,  or  a  little  after 
noon,"  resumed  Rob,  "and  ran  a  full  half -day 
we  ought  to  pass  all  these  rivers  which  Simon 
mentions,  and  get  down  to  the  first  big  rapid  of 
which  he  speaks.  They  were  good  and  tired 
coming  up-stream,  but  we  won't  have  to  work 
at  all  going  down." 

"Well,  don't  we  eat  any  place  at  all?" 
began  John  again,  amid  general  laughter. 

"Sure,"  said  Moise,  "we'll  stop  at  the  first 
little  beach  and  make  boil  the  kettle.  I'm 
hongree,  too,  me." 

They  did  as  Moise  said,  and  spent  perhaps 
an  hour,  discussing,  from  time  to  time,  the 

60 


FOLLOWING   MACKENZIE 

features  of  the  country  and  the  probable  time 
it  would  take  them  to  make  the  trip. 

"The  boat  goes  very  fast  on  a  stream  like 
this,"  said  Alex.  "We  could  make  fifty  or 
sixty  miles  a  day  without  the  least  trouble,  if 
we  did  not  have  to  portage.  I  should  think 
the  current  was  four  to  six  miles  an  hour,  at 
least,  and  you  know  we  could  add  to  that 
speed  if  we  cared  to  paddle. 

"Well,  we  don't  want  to  go  too  fast," 
said  Jesse.  "We  have  all  summer  for  this 
trip." 

This  remark  from  the  youngest  of  the  party 
caused  the  old  voyageur  to  look  at  him  ap- 
provingly. "That's  right,"  said  he,  "we'll 
not  hurry." 

Moise  was  by  this  time  examining  the  load 
of  the  Mary  Ann,  arranging  the  packs  so  that 
she  would  trim  just  to  suit  his  notion  when 
Rob  wras  in  place  at  the  bow.  Alex  paid 
similar  care  to  the  Jaybird.  The  boats  now 
ran  practically  on  an  even  keel,  which  would 
give  them  the  greatest  bearing  on  the  wrater 
and  enable  them  to  travel  over  the  shallowest 
water  possible. 

"En  roulantV  said  Moise,  looking  at  Alex 
inquiringly. 

Alex  nodded,  and  the  boys  being  now  in 
their  proper  places  in  the  boats,  he  himself 

61 


THE  YOUNG  ALASKANS  ON  THE  TRAIL 

stepped  in  and  gave  a  light  push  from  the 
beach  with  his  paddle. 

"So  long,  fellows,"  called  out  Rob  over  his 
shoulder  as  he  put  his  paddle  to  work.  "I'm 
going  to  beat  you  all  through — if  I'm  bow 
paddle  in  the  first  boat  I'll  be  ahead  of  every- 
body else.     En  roulant,  ma  boule!" 

The  Mary  Ann,  swinging  fully  into  the 
current,  went  off  dipping  and  gliding  down  the 
gentle  incline  of  the  stream.  "Don't  go  too 
fast,  Moise,"  called  out  Alex.  "We  want  to 
keep  in  sight  of  the  cook-boat." 

"All  right!"  sang  out  Moise.  "We'll  go 
plenty  slow." 

"Now,"  said  Alex  to  John  and  Jess  as  he 
paddled  along  slowly  and  steadily ;  "I  want  to 
tell  you  something  about  running  strange 
waters  in  a  canoe.  Riding  in  a  canoe  is  some- 
thing like  riding  a  horse.  You  must  keep 
your  balance.  Keep  your  weight  over  the 
middle  line  of  the  canoe,  which  is  in  the  center 
of  the  boat  when  she's  going  straight,  of 
course.  You'll  have  to  ease  off  a  little  if  she 
tilts — you  ride  her  a  little  as  you  would  a 
horse  over  a  jump.  Now,  look  at  this  little 
rough  place  we're  coming  to — there,  we're 
through  it  already — you  see,  there's  a  sort  of  a 
long  V  of  smooth  water  running  down  into  the 
rapid.     Below  that  there's  a  long  ridge  or 

62 


FOLLOWING  MACKENZIE 

series  of  broken  water.  This  rapid  will  do  for 
a  model  of  most  of  the  others,  although  it's  a 
tame  one. 

"  In  this  work  the  main  thing  is  to  keep 
absolutely  cool.  Never  try  a  bad  rapid  which 
is  strange  to  you  without  first  going  out  and 
getting  the  map  of  it  in  your  mind.  Figure  out 
the  course  you're  going  to  take,  and  then  hang 
to  it,  and  don't  get  scared.  When  I  call  to 
you  to  go  to  the  right,  Mr.  John,  pull  the  boat 
over  by  drawing  it  to  your  paddle  on  that  side 
— don't  try  to  push  it  over  from  the  left  side. 
You  can  haul  it  over  stronger  by  pulling  the 
paddle  against  the  water.  Of  course  I  do 
the  reverse  on  the  stern.  We  can  make  her 
travel  sidewise,  or  straight  ahead,  or  back- 
ward, about  as  we  please.  All  of  us  canoe- 
men  must  keep  cool  and  not  lose  our 
nerve. 

"Well,  I'll  go  on — usually  we  follow  the  V 
down  into  the  head  of  a  rapid.  Below  that 
the  highest  wave  is  apt  to  roll  back.  If  it  is 
too  high,  and  curls  over  too  far  up-stream,  it 
would  swamp  our  boat  to  head  straight  into 
it.  Where  should  we  go  then  ?  Of  course, 
we  would  have  to  get  a  little  to  one  side  of  that 
long,  rolling  ridge  of  white  water.  But  not 
too  far.  Sometimes  it  may  be  safer  to  take 
that  big  wave,  and  all  the  other  waves,  right 

63 


THE  YOUNG  ALASKANS  ON  THE  TRAIL 

down  the  white  ridge  of  the  stream,  than  it  is 
to  go  to  one  side." 

"  I  don't  see  why  that  would  be,"  said  Jesse. 
"  I  should  think  there  would  be  the  most 
dangerous  place  for  a  canoe." 

"It  is,  in  one  way,"  said  Alex.  "Or  at 
least  you're  surer  to  ship  water  there.  But 
suppose  you  are  in  a  very  heavy  stream  like 
the  Fraser  or  the  Columbia.  At  the  foot  of 
the  chute  there  is  very  apt  to  be  some  deep 
swells,  or  rolls,  coming  up  from  far  down  be- 
low. Besides  that,  there's  very  apt  to  be  a 
strong  eddy  setting  up-stream  just  below  the 
chute,  if  the  walls  are  narrow  and  rocky. 
Now,  that  sort  of  water  is  very  dangerous. 
One  of  those  big  swells  will  come  up  under  a 
boat,  and  you'd  think  a  sledge-hammer  had  hit 
her.  Nothing  can  stop  the  boat  from  careen- 
ing a  little  bit  then.  Well,  suppose  the  eddy 
catches  her  bow  and  swings  her  up-stream. 
She  goes  up  far  enough,  in  spite  of  all,  so  that 
her  nose  gets  under  some  white  water  coming 
down.  Well,  then,  she  swamps,  and  you're 
gone!" 

"I  don't  like  this  sort  of  talk,"  said  Jesse. 
"If  there's  any  place  where  I  could  walk  I'd 
get  out." 

"I'm  telling  you  now  about  bad  water," 
said  Alex,  "  and  telling  you  how  to  take  care  of 

64 


FOLLOWING   MACKENZIE 

yourself  in  case  you  find  yourself  there.  One 
thing  you  must  remember,  you  must  travel  a 
little  faster  than  the  current  to  get  steerage- 
way,  and  you  must  never  try  to  go  against 
your  current  in  a  rapid — the  water  is  stronger 
than  all  the  horses  you  ever  saw.  The  main 
thing  is  to  keep  cool,  to  keep  your  balance,  and 
sometimes  not  to  be  afraid  of  taking  a  little 
water  into  the  boat.  It's  the  business  of  the 
captain  to  tell  whether  it's  best  to  take  the 
ridge  of  water  at  the  foot  of  the  chute  or  to 
edge  off  from  it  to  one  side.  That  last  is 
what  he  will  do  when  there  are  no  eddies.  All 
rapids  differ,  and  of  course  in  a  big  river  there 
may  be  a  dozen  different  chutes.  We  always 
go  ashore  and  look  at  a  rapid  if  we  think  it's 
dangerous. 

"Now,  you  hear  that  noise  below  us,"  he 
added,  "but  don't  be  alarmed.  Don't  you 
see,  Moise  and  Rob  are  already  past  it?  I'll 
show  you  now  how  we  take  it.  Be  steady, 
John,  and  don't  paddle  till  I  tell  you.  "On 
your  right  a  little!"  he  called  out  an  instant 
later.  "That's  it!  So.  Well,  we're  through 
already!" 

"  Why,  that  was  nothing,"  said  Jesse.  "  It 
was  just  as  smooth!" 

"Exactly.  There  is  no  pleasanter  motion 
in  the  world  than  running  a  bit  of  fast  water. 

65 


THE  YOUNG  ALASKANS  ON  THE  TRAIL 

Now,  there  was  no  danger  in  this,  and  the  only 
trouble  we  had  was  just  to  get  an  inch  or  so 
out  of  the  way  of  that  big  rock  which  might 
have  wrecked  us.  We  always  pick  a  course  in 
a  rapid  which  gives  us  time  to  turn,  so  that  we 
can  dodge  another  rock  if  there's  one  on  ahead. 
It  usually  happens  pretty  fast.  You'll  soon 
learn  confidence  after  running  a  few  pieces  of 
white  water,  and  you'll  learn  to  like  it,  I'm 
sure." 

Moise  had  turned  his  boat  ashore  to  see  the 
second  boat  come  through,  and  after  a  mo- 
ment Alex  joined  him  at  the  beach,  the  canoes 
being  held  afloat  by  the  paddles  as  they  sat. 

"She  comes  down  fast,  doesn't  she,  fel- 
lows?" asked  Rob. 

"I  should  say  so!"  called  John.  "  I  don't 
see  how  they  ever  got  a  big  boat  up  here  at 
all." 

"Well,  Sir  Alexander  says  that  this  was 
part  of  the  worst  water  they  found,"  said 
Rob.  "  Sometimes  they  had  to  pull  the  boat 
up  by  hanging  on  to  the  overhanging  trees — 
they  couldn't  go  ashore  to  track  her,  they 
couldn't  get  bottom  with  their  setting-poles, 
and  of  course  they  couldn't  paddle.  Yet  we 
came  down  like  a  bird!" 

The  boats  dropped  on  down  pleasantly  and 
swiftly  now  for  some  time,  until  the  sun  began 

66 


FOLLOWING   MACKENZIE 

to  sink  toward  the  west.  A  continually 
changing  panorama  of  mountain  and  foothill 
shifted  before  them.  They  passed  one  little 
stream  after  another  making  down  from  the 
forest  slopes,  but  so  rapid  and  exhilarating 
was  their  movement  that  they  hardly  kept 
track  of  all  the  rivers  and  creeks  which  came 
in.  It  was  late  in  the  evening  when  they 
heard  the  low  roar  of  a  rapid  far  on  ahead. 
The  men  in  the  rear  boat  saw  the  Mary  Ann 
slacken,  pause,  and  pull  off  to  one  side  of  the 
stream. 

"That  must  be  the  big  rapid  which  Fraser 
mentions,"  commented  John. 

"  Very  likely, ' '  said  Alex.  "  Well,  anyhow, 
we  might  as  well  pull  in  here  and  make  our 
camp  for  the  night.  We've  made  a  good 
day's  work  for  a  start  at  least." 

"I  shouldn't  wonder  if  it  was  a  hundred 
miles  from  where  we  started  down  to  the 
outlet  of  the  McLeod  River,"  began  Rob 
again,  ever  ready  with  his  maps  and  books. 
"  I  think  they  call  it  the  Pack  River  now. 
There  is  a  sort  of  wide  place  near  there, 
where  the  Mischinsinclia  River  comes  in 
from  the  east,  and  above  that  ten  or 
fifteen  miles  is  the  Misinchinca  River,  on  the 
same  side.  I  don't  know  who  named  those 
rivers,  but  we  haven't  passed  them  yet,  that's 

67 


THE  YOUNG  ALASKANS  ON  THE  TRAIL 

sure.  Then  down  below  the  mouth  of  the 
McLeod  is  the  Nation  River,  quite  a  good 
stream,  I  suppose,  on  the  west  side.  The 
modern  maps  show  another  stream  called  the 
Manson  still  farther.  I  don't  know  whether 
Mackenzie  knew  them  by  these  names,  or 
whether  we  can  tell  them  when  we  see  them, 
but  it's  all  the  more  fun  if  we  can't." 


VII 

AROUND    THE     CAMP-FIRE 

THE  point  at  which  they  ended  their  day's 
voyage  was  a  long  sand-pit  projecting 
out  from  the  forest  and  offering  a  good  landing 
for  the  canoes.  They  were  glad  enough  to 
rest.  Moise  and  Alex,  who  had  paddled 
steadily  all  the  afternoon,  stepped  out  on  the 
beach  and  stretched  themselves. 

"Let's  go  back  into  the  woods,"  said  Jesse. 
"We  can't  sleep  on  these  hard  little  rocks — 
we  can't  even  drive  the  tent-pegs  here." 

"Well,  Mr.  Jess,"  said  Alex,  "if  you  went 
back  into  the  woods  I  think  you'd  come  back 
here  again — the  mosquitoes  would  drive  you 
out.  If  you  notice,  the  wind  strikes  this 
point  whichever  way  it  comes.  In  our  travel- 
ing we  always  camp  on  the  beaches  in  the 
summer-time  when  we  can." 

"  Besides,"  added  Rob,  "  even  if  we  couldn't 
drive  the  tent-pins,  we  could  tie  the  ropes  to 
big  rocks.  We  can  get  plenty  of  willows  and 
alders  for  our  beds,  too,  and  some  pine  boughs. ' ' 

69 


THE  YOUNG  ALASKANS  ON  THE  TRAIL 

The  long  twilight  of  these  northern  latitudes 
still  offered  them  plenty  of  light  for  their  camp 
work,  although  the  sun  was  far  down  in  the 
west.  Alex,  drawing  his  big  buffalo  knife, 
helped  the  tired  boys  get  ready  their  tent  and 
beds,  but  he  smiled  as  he  saw  that  to-night 
they  were  satisfied  with  half  as  many  boughs  as 
they  had  prepared  on  their  first  night  in  camp. 

"I  don't  suppose,"  said  Rob,  "that  Sir 
Alexander  and  his  men  made  very  big  beds." 

"No,  I'm  afraid  not,"  replied  Alex.  "On 
the  contrary,  the  canoemen  always  broke 
camp  about  four  o'clock  in  the  morning,  and 
they  kept  going  until  about  seven  at  night. 
Fifteen  hours  a  day  in  and  out  of  the  water, 
paddling,  poling,  and  tracking,  makes  a  man 
so  tired  he  doesn't  much  care  about  what  sort 
of  bed  he  has." 

While  the  others  were  getting  the  tent  ready 
Moise  was  busy  making  his  fire  and  getting 
some  long  willow  wands,  which  he  now  was 
making  into  a  sort  of  frame. 

"What's  that  for,  Moise?"  asked  Jesse. 

"That's  for  dry  those  feesh  you  boys'll  got 
this  morning.  Fine  big  trouts,  three,  four 
poun',  an'  fat.  I'll  fix  heem  two,  three,  days 
so  he'll  keep  all  right." 

"But  we  couldn't  stay  here  two  or  three 
days,"  said  John. 

70 


AROUND  THE   CAMP-FIRE 

11  We  might  do  worse, ' '  replied  Alex.  "  This 
isn't  a  bad  camping  place,  and  besides,  it 
seems  to  me  good  country  to  make  a  little 
hunt,  if  we  care  to  do  that." 

"It  certainly  would  be  a  fine  place  for 
beaver,"  said  Rob,  "if  it  weren't  against  the 
law  to  kill  them." 

"  Yes,  or  other  things  also — bear  or  big- 
horns, I  should  think  very  likely." 

"  I  suppose  there  isn't  any  law  against  kill- 
ing bears,"  said  Rob,  "but  how  about  big- 
horns ?  I  thought  they  were  protected  by 
law." 

"We'll  talk  about  that  after  a  while," 
Alex  answered.  "  Of  course,  no  one  would 
want  to  kill  beaver  at  this  time  of  year,  no 
matter  what  the  law  was,  because  the  fur 
is  not  good." 

"I  see  by  Sir  Alexander's  journal,"  con- 
tinued Rob,  "  that  it  must  have  been  along  in 
here  that  they  saw  so  much  beaver  work. 
There  are  plenty  of  dams  even  now,  although 
it's  a  hundred  years  later  than  the  time  he 
came  through." 

"  I  suppose  when  we  get  down  farther  there 
are  fewer  creeks,"  said  John,  "and  the  rocks 
and  trees  are  bigger.  I  don't  know  just  where 
we  are  now,  because  the  trees  are  so  thick  a 
fellow  can't  see  out." 

6  71 


THE  YOUNG  ALASKANS  ON  THE  TRAIL 

"  Well,"  went  on  Rob,  bringing  out  his  map, 
and  also  that  which  was  found  in  his  copy  of 
Mackenzie's  Voyages,  "  it  must  have  been  just 
about  in  here  that  Mackenzie  met  the  first 
Indians  that  he  saw  in  this  country — the  ones 
who  told  him  about  the  carrying  place,  and 
about  the  big  river  and  the  salt  water  beyond 
it.  They  were  the  Indians  who  had  iron  spears, 
and  knives,  and  things,  so  that  he  knew  they 
had  met  white  men  off  to  the  west.  They 
had  a  big  spoon  which  Mackenzie  says  was 
made  out  of  a  horn  like  the  buffalo  horn  of  the 
Copper  Mine  River.  I  suppose  Mackenzie 
called  the  musk-ox  buffalo,' and  very  likely  he 
never  had  seen  a  mountain-sheep." 

"That's  right,"  said  Alex,  "those  Injuns 
used  to  make  big  spoons  out  of  the  horns  of 
the  mountain-sheep — all  the  Injuns  along  the 
Rockies  always  have  done  that.  It  seems 
strange  to  me  that  Mackenzie  didn't  know 
that,  although  at  that  he  was  still  rather  a  new 
man  in  the  north." 

"  You  never  have  been  in  here  yourself, 
have  you,  Alex  ?"  asked  John. 

"  No,  and  that's  what  is  making  the  trip  so 
pleasant  for  me.  I'm  having  a  good  time 
figuring  it  out  with  you.  I  know  this  river 
must  run  north  between  those  two  ranges  of 
mountains,  and  it  must  turn  to  the  east  some- 

72 


AROUND  THE  CAMP-FIRE 

where  north  of  here.  But  I've  never  been 
west  of  Fort  St.  John." 

"  I  don't  like  the  look  of  this  river  down 
there,"  said  Jesse,  stepping  to  the  point  of  the 
bar,  and  gazing  down  the  stream  up  which 
came  the  sullen  roar  of  heavy  rapids. 

"Those  rapeed,  she'll  been  all  right,"  said 
Moise.  "  Never  fear,  we  go  through  heem  all 
right.  To-morrow,  two,  three,  day  we'll  go 
through  those  rapeed  like  the  bird !" 

"We  can  walk  around  them,  Jesse,  if  we 
don't  want  to  run  them,"  said  Rob,  reassuring- 
ly. "Of  course  it's  rather  creepy  going  into 
heavy  water  that  you  don't  know  anything 
about — I  don't  like  that  myself.  But  just 
think  how  much  worse  it  must  have  been  for 
Sir  i\lexander  and  his  men,  who  were  coming 
up  this  river,  and  on  the  high  water  at  that. 
Why,  all  this  country  was  overflowed,  and  one 
time,  down  below  here,  all  the  men  wanted  to 
quit,  it  was  such  hard  work.  He  must  have 
been  a  brave  man  to  keep  them  going  on 
through." 

"He  was  a  great  man,"  added  Alex.  "A 
tired  man  is  hard  to  argue  with,  but  he  got 
them  to  keep  on  trying,  and  kept  them  at 
their  work." 

"Grub  pile!"  sang  Moise  once  more,  and  a 
moment  later  all  were  gathered  again  around 

73 


THE  YOUNG  ALASKANS  ON  THE  TRAIL 

the  little  fire  where  Moise  had  quickly  pre- 
pared the  evening  meal. 

"  I'm  just  about  starved,"  said  John.  "  I've 
been  wanting  something  to  eat  all  afternoon." 

They  all  laughed  at  John's  appetite,  which 
never  failed,  and  Moise  gave  him  two  large 
pieces  of  trout  from  the  frying-pan.  "I'll 
suppose  those  feesh  he'll  seem  good  to  you," 
said  Moise. 

"I  should  say  they  were  good!"  remarked 
Jesse,  approvingly.  "I  like  them  better  all 
the  time." 

"S'pose  we  no  get  feesh  in  the  north,"  be- 
gan Moise,  "everybody  she'll  been  starve." 

"That's  right,"  said  Alex.  "The  traders 
couldn't  have  traveled  in  this  country  without 
their  nets.  They  got  fish  enough  each  night 
to  last  them  the  next  day  almost  anywhere 
they  stopped.  You  see,  sometimes  the  buffalo 
or  the  caribou  are  somewhere  else,  but  fish 
can't  get  out  of  the  river  or  the  lake,  and  we 
always  know  where  to  look  for  them." 

"The  dore,  she'll  be  good  feesh,"  continued 
Moise,  "but  we'll  not  got  dore  here.  Maybe 
so  whitefeesh  over  east,  maybe  so  pickerel." 

"  You  remember  how  we  liked  codfish  better 
than  salmon  up  in  Alaska  when  we  were  on 
Kadiak  Island?"  asked  Rob.  "I  wonder  if 
we'll  like  trout  very  long  at  a  time  ?" 

74 


AROUND  THE   CAMP-FIRE 

"Whitefeesh  she'll  be  all  right,"  Moise 
smiled.  "Man  an'  dog  both  he'll  eat  white- 
feesh." 

"Well,  it's  all  right  about  fish,"  Rob  re- 
marked, after  a  time,  "but  how  about  the 
hunt  we  were  talking  about  ?  I  promised 
Uncle  Dick  I'd  bring  him  some  bearskins." 

"Black  bear  or  grizzlies?"  asked  Alex, 
smiling. 

"Grizzly." 

"  Well,  I  don't  know  about  that,"  demurred 
Alex.  "Of  course  I  don't  deny  you  may 
have  killed  a  bear  or  so  up  in  Alaska,  but 
down  here  most  of  us  are  willing  to  let  grizzlies 
alone  when  we  see  them." 

"This  white-face  bear,  hell  be  bad,"  Moise 
nodded  vigorously. 

"Are  there  many  in  here?"  asked  John, 
curiously,  looking  at  the  dense  woods. 

"  I  don't  know,"  Alex  replied.  "  I've  seen  a 
few  tracks  along  the  bars,  but  most  of  those 
are  made  by  black  bear.  Injuns  don't  look 
for  grizzlies  very  much.  I  don't  suppose 
there's  over  six  or  eight  grizzly  skins  traded 
out  of  Fort  St.  John  in  a  whole  year." 

"  Injuns  no  like  for  keel  grizzly,"  said  Moise. 
"This  grizzly,  he'll  be  chief.  He'll  be  dead 
man,  too,  maybe.  Those  grizzly  he'll  be 
onkle  of  mine,  maybe  so.     All  Injun  he'll  not 

75 


THE  YOUNG  ALASKANS  ON  THE  TRAIL 

want  for  keel  grizzly.  Some  Injun  can  talk  to 
grizzly,  an'  some  time  grizzly  he'll  talk  to 
Injun,  too,  heem." 

"Now,  Moise,"  said  Rob,  "do  you  really 
think  an  animal  can  talk?" 

"Of  course  he'll  talk.  More  beside,  all 
animal  he'll  talk  with  spirits,  an'  man,  not 
often  he  can  talk  with  spirits  himself.  Yes, 
animal  he'll  talk  with  spirit  right  along, 
heem. ' ' 

"What  does  he  mean,  Alex?"  asked  Rob. 

"  Well,"  said  Alex,  gravely,  "  I'm  half  Injun 
too,  and  you  know,  Injuns  don't  think  just 
the  way  white  people  do.  Among  our  people 
it  was  always  thought  that  animals  were  wiser 
than  white  men  think  them.  Some  have 
said  that  they  get  wisdom  from  the  spirits — 
I  don't  know  about  that." 

"Do  you  know  how  those  cross  fox  he'll 
get  his  mark  on  his  back  that  way?"  asked 
Moise  of  Rob. 

"  No,  only  I  suppose  they  were  always  that 
way." 

"You  know  those  fox?" 

"We  all  know  them,"  interrupted  John. 
"There's  a  lot  of  them  up  in  Alaska — reddish, 
with  smoky  black  marks  on  the  back  and 
shoulders,  and  a  black  tail  with  a  white  tip. 
They're  worth  money,  too,  sometimes." 

76 


AROUND  THE   CAMP-FIRE 

"Maybe  Moise  will  tell  you  a  story  about 
how  the  fox  got  marked,"  said  Alex  quietly. 

"Oh,  go  ahead,  Moise,"  said  all  the  boys. 
"  We'd  like  to  hear  that. " 

"  Well,  one  tarn,"  said  Moise,  reaching  to  the 
fire  to  get  a  coal  for  his  pipe,  and  leaning  back 
against  a  blanket-roll,  "all  fox  that  ron  wild 
was  red,  like  some  fox  is  red  to-day.  But 
those  tarn  was  some  good  fox  an'  some  bad 
fox.  Then  Wiesacajac,  he'll  get  mad  with 
some  fox  an'  mark  heem  that  way.  He'll 
been  bad  fox,  that's  how  he  get  mark." 

"  Wiesacajac  ?"  asked  Rob.  "  What  do  you 
mean  by  that?" 

"He  means  one  of  the  wood-spirits  of  the 
Cree  Indians, ' '  answered  Alex,  quietly.  '  You 
know,  the  Injuns  have  a  general  belief  in  the 
Great  Spirit.  Well,  Wiesacajac  is  a  busy 
spirit  of  the  woods,  and  is  usually  good- 
natured." 

"  Do  you  believe  in  him  ?"  asked  Jesse.  "  I 
thought  you  went  to  church,  Alex?" 

"The  Company  likes  us  all  to  go  to  church 
when  we're  in  the  settlements,"  said  Alex, 
"  and  I  do  regularly.  But  you  see,  my  mother 
was  Injun,  and  she  kept  to  the  old  ways.  It's 
hard  for  me  to  understand  it,  about  the  old 
ways  and  the  new  ones  both.  But  my  mother 
and  her  people  all  believed  in  Wiesacajac,  and 

77 


THE  YOUNG  ALASKANS  ON  THE  TRAIL 

thought  he  was  around  all  the  time  and  was 
able  to  play  jokes  on  the  people  if  he  felt  like 
it.  Usually  he  was  good-natured.  But,  Moise, 
go  on  and  tell  about  how  the  fox  got  his 
mark." 

Moise,  assuming  a  little  additional  dignity, 
as  became  an  Indian  teller  of  stories,  now 
went  on  with  his  tale. 

"Listen,  I  speak!"  he  began.  "One  tarn, 
long  ago,  Wiesacajac,  he'll  be  sit  all  alone  by  a 
lake  off  north  of  this  river.  Wiesacajac,  he'll 
been  hongree,  but  he'll  not  be  mad.  He'll 
be  laugh,  an'  talk  by  heemself  an'  have  good 
tarn,  because  he'll  just  keel  himself  some  nice 
fat  goose. 

"Now,  Wiesacajac,  he'll  do  the  way  the 
people  do,  an'  he'll  go  for  roast  this  goose  in 
the  sand,  under  the  ashes  where  he'll  make  his 
fire.  He'll  take  this  goose  an'  bury  heem  so, 
all  cover'  up  with  ashes  an'  coals — like  this, 
you  see — but  he'll  leave  the  two  leg  of  those 
foots  stick  up  through  the  ground  where  the 
goose  is  bury. 

"Wiesacajac  he'll  feel  those  goose  all  over 
with  his  breast-bone,  an'  he'll  say,  'Ah,  ha! 
he'll  been  fat  goose ;  bimeby  he'll  be  good  for 
eat.'  But  he'll  know  if  you  watch  goose  he'll 
not  get  done.  So  bimeby  Wiesacajac  he'll 
walk  off  away  in  the  wood  for  to  let  those 

73 


AROUND  THE  CAMP-FIRE 

goose  get  brown  in  the  ashes.  This '11  be 
fine  day — beau  temps — an'  he'll  be  happy,  for 
he'll  got  meat  in  camp.  So  bimeby  he'll  sit 
down  on  log  an'  look  at  those  sky  an'  those 
wind,  an'  maybe  he'll  light  his  pipe,  I  don't 
know,  me. 

"  Now  about  this  tarn  some  red  fox  he'll  be 
lie  down  over  those  ridge  an'  watch  Wiesaca- 
jac  an'  those  goose.  This  fox  he'll  be  hongree, 
too,  for  he'll  ain't  got  no  goose.  He'll  been 
thief,  too,  all  same  like  every  fox.  So  he'll 
see  Wiesacajac  walk  off  in  woods,  an'  he'll 
smell  aroun'  an'  he'll  sneak  down  to  the  camp 
where  those  goose  will  be  with  his  feet  stick 
out  of  ashes. 

"  Those  thief  of  fox  he'll  dig  up  the  fat  goose 
of  Wiesacajac,  an'  tase'  it,  an'  find  it  ver' 
good.  He'll  ron  off  in  the  woods  with  the 
goose  an'  eat  it  all  up,  all  'cept  the  foots  an' 
the  leg-bones.  Then  the  fox  he'll  sneak  back 
to  the  fire  once  more,  an'  he'll  push  the  dirt 
back  in  the  hole,  an'  he'll  stick  up  these  foots 
an'  the  leg-bones  just  like  they  was  before, 
only  there  don't  been  no  goose  under  those 
foots  now,  because  he'll  eat  up  the  goose. 

'"Ah,  ha!'  says  Mr.  Fox  then,  'I'm  so  fat 
I  must  go  sleep  now.'  So  he'll  go  off  in  woods 
a  little  way  an'  he'll  lie  down,  an'  he'll  go  to 
sleep. 

79 


THE  YOUNG  ALASKANS  ON  THE  TRAIL 

"Bimeby  Wiesacajac  he'll  look  at  the  sun 
an'  the  wind  plenty  long,  an'  he'll  got  more 
hongree.  So  he'll  come  back  to  camp  an'  look 
for  his  goose.  He'll  take  hoi'  of  those  foots 
that  stick  up  there,  an'  pull  them  up,  but  the 
foots  come  loose!  So  he'll  dig  in  the  sand  an' 
ashes,  an'  he'll  not  found  no  goose. 

"'Ah,  ha!'  say  Wiesacajac  then.  He'll  put 
his  finger  on  his  nose  an'  think.  Then  he'll 
see  those  track  of  fox  in  the  sand.  'Ah,  ha!' 
he'll  say  again.  'I'll  been  rob  by  those  fox. 
Well,  we'll  see  about  that.' 

"  Wiesacajac,  he'll  follow  the  trail  to  where 
this  fox  is  lie  fast  asleep;  but  all  fox  he'll 
sleep  with  one  eye  open,  so  this  fox  he'll  hear 
Wiesacajac  an'  see  him  come,  an'  he'll  get  up 
an'  ron.  But  he'll  be  so  full  of  goose  that 
inside  of  hondred  yards,  maybe  feefty  yards, 
Wiesacajac  he'll  catch  up  with  him  an'  pick 
him  up  by  the  tail. 

"'Now  I  have  you,  thief!'  he'll  say  to  the 
fox.  'You'll  stole  my  goose.  Don't  you 
know  that  is  wrong?  I  show  you  now  some 
good  manners,  me.' 

"  So  Wiesacajac,  he'll  carry  those  fox  down 
to  the  fire.  He's  plenty  strong,  but  he  don't 
keel  those  fox.  He's  only  going  to  show  heem 
a  lesson.  So  he'll  poke  up  the  fire  an'  put  on 
some  more  wood,  then  he'll  take  the  fox  by 

80 


AROUND  THE  CAMP-FIRE 

the  end  of  the  tail  an'  the  back  of  his  neck, 
an'  he'll  hold  heem  down  over  the  fire  till  the 
fire  scorch  his  back  an'  make  heem  smoke. 
Then  the  fox  he'll  beg,  an'  promise  not  to  do 
that  no  more. 

"'I  suppose  maybe  you'll  not  keep  your 
promise,'  says  Wiesacajac,  'for  all  foxes 
they'll  steal  an'  lie.  But  this  mark  will  stay 
on  you  so  all  the  people  can  tell  you  for  a 
thief  when  they  see  you.  You  must  carry  it, 
an'  all  your  children,  so  long  as  there  are  any 
foxes  of  your  familee.' 

"The  fox  he'll  cry,  an'  he'll  roll  on  the 
groun',  but  those  black  mark  she'll  stay. 

"An'  she'll  stay  there  till  now,"  repeated 
Moise.  "An'  all  the  tarn,  those  fox  he'll  be 
'shamed  for  look  a  man  in  the  face.  All  the 
tarn  you  find  cross  fox,  he'll  be  black  where 
Wiesacajac  hold  heem  over  the  fire,  with  his 
back  down,  but  the  end  of  his  tail  will  be 
white,  because  there  is  where  Wiesacajac  had 
hold  of  heem  on  one  end,  an'  his  front  will  be 
white,  too,  same  reason,  yes,  heem.  What- 
ever Wiesacajac  did  was  done  because  he  was 
wise  an'  strong.  Since  then  all  cross  fox  have 
shown  the  mark.     I  have  spoken." 

Moise  now  looked  around  at  his  young 
listeners  to  see  how  they  liked  the  story. 

"That's  what  I  call  a  pretty  good  story," 
81 


THE  YOUNG  ALASKANS  ON  THE  TRAIL 

said  John.  "  If  I  had  one  more  trout  I  believe 
I  could  go  to  bed." 

"Do  you  know  what  time  it  is?"  asked 
Alex,  smiling. 

"No,"  said  Rob.  "Why,  it's  almost  mid- 
night," he  added,  as  he  looked  at  his  watch. 

"We've  made  a  long  day  of  it,"  said  Alex, 
"almost  too  long.  We  don't  want  to  be  in 
too  big  a  hurry." 

"  How  far  do  you  think  we've  come,  Alex  ?" 
asked  Jesse.  "It  seemed  like  a  long  way  to 
me." 

"Well  I  don't  know  exactly,  Mr.  Jess," 
said  Alex,  "  because  there  are  no  roads  in  this 
country,  you  see,  and  we  have  to  guess.  But 
it  must  have  been  about  noon  when  we  got 
out  of  the  last  lake  after  we  finished  fishing. 
We've  doubled  on  the  portage,  which  made 
that  something  like  a  mile,  and  I  suppose  took 
about  an  hour.  We  fished  about  an  hour,  and 
it  took  us  about  an  hour  to  clear  out  the  little 
creek  and  go  through  a  mile  or  so  down  to  the 
main  river.  We've  been  running  seven  or 
eight  hours  pretty  steadily.  Maybe  we've 
come  thirty  or  forty  miles,  I  don't  know." 

"Well,  I  know  I'm  tired,"  said  John,  "and 
I  can't  even  eat  another  trout." 


VIII 

A    HUNT    FOR    BIGHORN 

ALEX  allowed  the  boys  to  sleep  late  next 
-  morning,  and  the  sun  was  shining 
warmly  when  at  length  they  turned  out  of 
their  tent  and  went  down  to  the  river  for 
their  morning  bath.  Heartily  as  they  had 
eaten  the  night  before,  they  seemed  still  hun- 
gry enough  to  enjoy  the  hearty  breakfast 
which  Moise  had  ready  for  them  at  the 
fire. 

"Well,  Alex,  what's  the  programme  for  to- 
day ?"  asked  Rob ;  "  are  we  going  on  down,  or 
shall  we  stop  for  a  hunt  ?" 

"Whichever  you  like,"  answered  Alex. 
"We're  maybe  getting  into  heavier  water 
now,  so  I  suppose  we  ought  to  be  a  little  more 
careful  about  how  we  run  down  without 
prospecting  a  little." 

"How  would  it  be  for  some  of  us  to  go 
down  along  the  bank  and  do  a  little  scouting  ?" 
asked  John. 

"A  very  good  plan,"  agreed  Alex,  "and 
83 


THE  YOUNG  ALASKANS  ON  THE  TRAIL 

Moise  might  do  that  while  we  others  are  doing 
something  else." 

"Oh,  you  mean  about  our  hunt,"  broke  in 
Rob.  "Now,  we  were  speaking  about  bears 
and  sheep.  We  don't  want  to  break  the  game 
laws,  you  know." 

"  Let  me  see  your  map,  Mr.  Rob,"  said  Alex. 
"  I  told  you  we'd  talk  over  that  after  a  while." 

"  What's  the  map  got  to  do  with  game  laws, 
Alex?" 

"A  great  deal,  as  I'll  show  you.  You  see, 
in  all  this  upper  country  the  laws  made  down 
at  Ottawa  and  Edmonton  govern,  just  as  if  we 
lived  right  in  that  country.  We  keep  the 
game  laws  the  same  as  any  other  laws.  At 
the  same  time,  the  government  is  wise,  and 
knows  that  men  in  this  far-off  country  have  to 
live  on  what  the  country  produces.  If  the 
people  could  not  kill  game  when  they  found 
it  they  would  all  starve.  So  the  law  is  that 
there  is  no  restriction  on  killing  game — that  is, 
any  kind  of  game  except  beaver  and  buffalo — 
north  of  latitude  550." 

"Well,  what's  that  got  to  do  with  our 
hunt?"  asked  Rob. 

"  I  was  just  going  to  explain,  if  you  will  let 
me  see  your  map.  As  near  as  I  can  tell  by 
looking  at  the  lines  of  latitude  on  it,  we  must 
have  been  just  about  latitude  fifty-five  de- 

84 


A  HUNT  FOR   BIGHORN 

gress  at  the  place  where  we  started  yesterday. 
But  we  have  been  running  north  very  strongly 
thirty  or  forty  miles.  While  I  can't  tell 
exactly  where  we  are,  I'm  very  positive  that 
we  are  at  this  camp  somewhere  north  of  fifty- 
five  degrees.  In  that  case  there  is  no  law 
against  our  killing  what  we  like,  if  we  let 
the  beaver  alone;  for  of  course,  the  buffalo 
are  all  gone  from  this  country  long  ago." 

"Now,  I  wouldn't  have  thought  of  that," 
said  Rob,  "and  I'm  very  glad  that  you  have 
figured  it  out  just  that  way.  We  agree  with 
you  that  a  fellow  ought  to  keep  the  game  laws 
even  when  he  is  away  from  the  towns.  In 
some  of  the  States  in  the  earlier  days  they 
used  to  have  laws  allowing  a  man  to  kill  meat 
if  he  needed  it,  no  matter  what  time  of  year. 
But  people  killed  at  all  times,  until  there 
wasn't  much  left  to  kill." 

11  It  ought  to  be  a  good  hunting  country 
here,"  went  on  Alex,  "for  I  don't  think  many 
live  here  or  hunt  here." 

"Well,"  said  Rob,  with  a  superior  air,  "we 
don't  much  care  for  black  bear.  Grizzlies  or 
bighorns — " 

"  Have  you  never  killed  a  bighorn  ?" 

"No,  none  of  us  ever  has.  They  have 
plenty  of  them  up  in  Alaska,  and  very  good 
ones,  and  white  sheep  also,  and  white  goats 

85 


THE  YOUNG  ALASKANS  ON  THE  TRAIL 

sometimes,  and  all  sorts  of  bears  and  moose 
and  things.  We've  never  hunted  very  much 
except  when  we  were  on  Kadiak  Island.  We 
can  all  shoot,  though.  And  we'd  like  very 
much  to  make  a  hunt  here.  There  isn't  any 
hurry,  anyway." 

"S'pose  you'll  got  some  of  those  sheep," 
ventured  Moise,  "he'll  be  best  for  eat  of  any- 
thing there  is — no  meat  better  in  the  world 
than  those  beeghorn." 

"  Well,"  said  John,  "  why  don't  we  start  out 
to  get  one  ?  This  looks  like  a  good  country, 
all  right." 

"That  suits  me,"  added  Rob.  "Jess,  do 
you  want  to  go  along  ?" 

Alex  looked  at  Jesse  before  he  answered, 
and  saw  that  while  he  was  tall  for  his  age,  he 
was  rather  thin  and  not  so  strong  as  the  other 
boys,  being  somewhat  younger. 

"  I  think  Mr.  Jess  would  better  stay  in 
camp,"  said  he.  "He  can  help  Moise  finish 
drying  his  fish,  and  maybe  they  can  go  down 
and  have  a  look  at  the  rapids  from  the  shore. 
We  others  can  go  over  east  for  a  hunt.  I've 
a  notion  that  the  mountains  that  way  are 
better." 

"It  looks  like  a  long  way  over,"  said  Rob. 
"Can  we  make  it  out  and  back  to  camp  to- 
day?" 

86 


A  HUNT  FOR  BIGHORN 

"Hardly;  I  think  we'll  have  to  lie  out  at 
least  one  night,  maybe  more,  to  be  sure  of 
getting  the  sheep." 

"Fine!"  said  John;  "that  suits  me.  We 
wouldn't  need  to  take  along  any  tent,  just 
a  blanket  and  a  little  something  to  eat — I 
suppose  we  could  carry  enough."  He  looked 
so  longingly  at  Moise's  pots  and  pans  that 
everybody  laughed  at  him  once  more. 

"All  right,"  said  Alex,  "we'll  go." 

The  old  hunter  now  busied  himself  making 
ready  their  scant  supplies.  He  took  a  little 
bag  of  flour,  with  some  salt,  one  or  two  of  the 
cooked  fish  which  remained,  and  a  small  piece 
of  bacon.  These  he  rolled  up  in  a  piece  of 
canvas,  which  he  placed  on  his  pack-straps. 
He  asked  the  boys  if  they  thought  they  could 
get  on  with  a  single  blanket,  and  when  they 
agreed  to  this  he  took  Rob's  blanket,  folded  it, 
rolled  it  also  in  canvas,  and  tied  it  all  tight 
with  a  rope,  the  ends  of  his  tump-strap  sticking 
out,  serving  him  for  his  way  of  packing,  which 
was  to  put  the  tump-strap  across  his  head. 

"It's  not  a  very  big  bundle,"  said  he. 
11  You  young  gentlemen  need  take  nothing  but 
your  rifles  and  your  ammunition.  I  don't 
need  any  blanket  for  a  night  or  so.  What 
little  we've  got  will  seem  heavy  enough  before 
we  get  up  there  in  the  hills." 

7  87 


THE  YOUNG  ALASKANS  ON  THE  TRAIL 

"Now,  Moise,  listen,"  he  added.  "You're 
to  stay  in  this  camp  until  we  get  back,  no 
matter  how  long  it  is,  and  you're  not  to  be 
uneasy  if  we  don't  come  back  for  two  or  three 
days.  Don't  go  out  in  the  boats  with  Mr. 
Jess  until  we  get  back.  Give  him  three  meals 
a  day,  and  finish  up  drying  your  trout." 

"All  right,"  answered  Moise,  "  I'll  stay  here 
all  summer.     I'll  hope  you  get  beeg  sheep." 

Alex  turned,  and  after  the  fashion  of  the 
Indians,  did  not  say  good-by  when  he  left 
camp,  but  stalked  off.  The  two  boys,  rifle  in 
hand,  followed  him,  imitating  his  dignity  and 
not  even  looking  back  to  wave  a  farewell  to 
Jesse,  who  stood  regarding  them  rather  rue- 
fully. 

They  had  a  stiff  climb  up  the  first  ridge, 
which  paralleled  the  stream,  when  the  boys 
found  their  rifles  quite  heavy  enough  to  carry. 
After  a  time,  however,  they  came  out  at  the 
top  of  a  high  plateau,  where  the  undergrowth 
was  not  very  thick  and  tall  spruces  stood 
more  scattered.  They  could  now  see  beyond 
them  some  high,  bare  ridges,  that  rose  one 
back  of  the  other,  with  white-topped  peaks 
here  and  there. 

"Good  sheep  country,"  said  Alex,  after  a 
time.  "  I  think  good  for  moose,  and  maybe 
caribou,  too,  lower  down." 


A  HUNT  FOR   BIGHORN 

"Yes,  and  good  for  something  else,"  cried 
Rob,  who  was  running  on  a  little  in  advance  as 
the  others  stopped.     "  Look  here!" 

"  There  he  goes  in  his  moccasins,"  said  Alex. 
"Grizzly!" 

"Yes,  and  a  good  big  one,  I  should  think," 
said  Rob.  "  Not  as  big  as  a  Kadiak  bear ;  but 
see,  his  foot  sinks  a  long  way  into  the  ground, 
and  it's  not  very  soft,  either.  Come  on,  Alex, 
let's  go  after  him." 

Alex  walked  over  and  examined  the  trail 
for  a  little  while. 

"  Made  yesterday  morning,"  he  commented, 
"  and  traveling  steadily.  No  telling  where  he 
is  by  this  time,  Mr.  Rob.  When  an  old  white- 
face  starts  off  he  may  go  forty  miles.  Again, 
we  might  run  across  him  or  some  other  one  in 
the  first  berry  patch  we  come  to.  It  seems  to 
me  surer  to  go  on  through  with  our  sheep 
hunt. 

"There's  another  thing,"  he  added,  "about 
killing  a  big  bear  in  here — his  hide  would 
weigh  fifty  to  seventy-five  pounds,  very  likely. 
Our  boats  are  pretty  full  now,  and  we're 
maybe  coming  to  bad  water.  There's  good 
bear  hunting  farther  north  and  east  of  here, 
and  it  seems  to  me,  if  you  don't  mind,  that  it 
might  be  wiser  for  us  to  hunt  sheep  here  and 

bear  somewhere  else." 

89 


THE  YOUNG  ALASKANS  ON  THE  TRAIL 

"  That  sounds  reasonable,"  said  John.  "  Be- 
sides, we've  never  seen  wild  bighorn." 

"Come  ahead  then,"  said  Rob,  reluctantly 
leaving  the  big  bear  trail.  "I'd  just  like  to 
follow  that  old  fellow  out,  though." 

"Never  fear,"  said  Alex,  "you  shall  follow 
one  just  as  big  before  this  trip  is  over!" 

Alex  now  took  up  his  pack  again,  and  began 
to  move  up  toward  the  foothills  of  the  moun- 
tains, following  a  flat  little  ravine  which 
wound  here  and  there,  at  no  place  very  much 
covered  with  undergrowth.  At  last  they 
reached  the  edges  of  bare  country,  where  the 
sun  struck  them  fully.  By  this  time  the  boys 
were  pretty  tired,  for  it  was  far  past  noon,  and 
they  had  not  stopped  for  lunch.  John  was 
very  hungry,  but  too  brave  to  make  any  com- 
plaint. He  was,  however,  feeling  the  effects 
of  the  march  considerably. 

"Well,"  said  he,  as  they  finally  sat  down 
upon  a  large  rock,  "  I  don't  see  any  signs  of 
sheep  up  in  here,  and  I  don't  think  this  looks 
like  a  very  good  game  country.  There  isn't 
anything  for  the  sheep  to  eat." 

"Oh  yes,"  rejoined  Alex;  "you'll  find  a 
little  grass,  and  some  moss  among  the  rocks, 
more  often  than  you  would  think.  This  is 
just  the  kind  of  country  that  bighorns  like. 
You  mustn't  get  discouraged  too  soon  on  a 

90 


A  HUNT  FOR   BIGHORN 

hunt.  An  Injun  may  be  slow  to  start  on  a 
hunt,  but  when  he  gets  started  he  doesn't  get 
discouraged,  but  keeps  on  going.  Sometimes 
our  people  hunt  two  or  three  days  without 
anything  to  eat. 

"But  now  since  you  mention  it,  Mr.  John," 
he  added,  "I'd  like  to  ask  you,  are  you  sure 
there  are  no  signs  of  game  around  here  ?" 

Both  the  boys  looked  for  a  long  time  all 
over  the  mountain-slopes  before  them.  Rob 
had  his  field-glasses  with  him,  and  these  he 
now  took  out,  steadily  sweeping  one  ridge 
after  another  for  some  time. 

"I  see,  Alex!"  he  called  out,  excitedly.  "I 
know  what  you  mean!" 

"Where  are  they?"  called  John,  excitedly. 

"Oh,  not  sheep  yet,"  said  Rob,  "but  just 
where  they've  been,  I  think." 

"Look,  Mr.  John,"  said  Alex,  now  taking 
John  by  the  arm  and  pointing  across  the 
near-by  ravines.  "Don't  you  see  that  long 
mark,  lighter  in  color,  which  runs  down  the 
side  of  that  mountain  over  there,  a  mile  or 
two  away,  and  up  above  us  ?" 

"  Yes,  I  can  see  that ;  but  what  is  it  ?" 

"Well,  that's  a  sheep  trail,  a  path,"  said 
Alex.  "That's  a  trail  they  make  coming 
down  regularly  from  the  high  country  be- 
yond.    It  looks  to  me  as  though  they  might 

91 


THE  YOUNG  ALASKANS  ON  THE  TRAIL 

have  a  watering  place,  or  maybe  a  lick,  over  in 
there  somewhere.  It  looks  so  good  to  me,  at 
least,  that  I  think  we'll  make  a  camp." 

They  turned  now,  under  the  old  hunter's 
guidance,  and  retraced  their  steps  until  they 
found  themselves  at  the  edge  of  timber,  where 
Alex  threw  down  his  bundle  under  a  tall 
spruce-tree  whose  branches  spread  out  so  as 
almost  to  form  a  tent  of  itself.  He  now 
loosened  his  straps  and  bits  of  rope  from  about 
the  bundle,  and  fastened  these  about  his 
waist.  With  remaining  pieces  of  twine  he 
swung  up  the  package  to  the  bough  of  the 
tree  above  the  ground  as  high  as  he  could 
reach. 

"  We  don't  want  any  old  porcupine  coming 
here  and  eating  up  our  grub.  They  almost 
gnaw  through  a  steel  plate  to  get  at  anything 
greasy  or  salty,"  he  explained.  "We'll  call 
this  camp,  and  we'll  stop  here  to-night,  be- 
cause I  can  see  that  if  we  go  up  to  that  trail 
and  do  any  waiting  around  it  will  be  too  late 
for  us  to  get  back  home  to-night." 

Although  no  game  had  as  yet  been  sighted, 
the  confidence  that  it  was  somewhere  in  the 
country  made  the  boys  forget  their  fatigue. 
They  followed  Alex  up  the  mountain-slopes, 
which  close  at  hand  proved  steeper  than  they 
had  looked  for,  keeping  up  a  pretty  fast  pace, 

92 


A  HUNT  FOR  BIGHORN 

until  finally  they  got  almost  as  high  up  as  the 
trail  which  Alex  had  sighted.  This  latter  lay 
at  some  distance  to  the  right  of  their  present 
course,  and  a  high,  knife-edged  ridge  ran 
down  from  the  hills,  separating  the  hunters 
from  the  mountain-side  beyond.  Alex  now 
turned  to  his  young  companions  and  said  in 
a  low  tone: 

"You'd  better  stay  here  now  for  a  little 
while.  I'll  crawl  up  to  the  top  yonder  and 
look  over.  If  you  see  me  motion  to  you,  come 
on  up  to  where  I  am." 

Rob  and  John  sat  down  on  a  near-by  rock 
and  watched  the  hunter  as  he  cautiously 
ascended  the  slope,  taking  care  not  to  dis- 
engage any  stones  whose  noise  might  alarm 
any  near-by  game.  The}'  saw  him  flatten  out, 
and,  having  removed  his  hat,  peer  cautiously 
over  the  rim.  Here  he  lay  motionless  for  some 
time,  then,  little  by  little,  so  slowly  that  they 
hardly  noticed  he  was  moving,  he  dropped 
down  over  the  rim,  and,  looking  down  over 
his  shoulder,  motioned  to  them  to  come  on  up. 

When  the  boys  joined  Alex  at  the  edge  of 
the  ridge  they  were  pretty  much  out  of  breath, 
as  they  had  hurried  in  the  ascent.  "  What  is 
it,  Alex?"  hissed  John,  his  eyes  shining. 

"They're  over  there,"  said  the  hunter, 
quietly.     "  Five  sheep,  two  good  ones — one  a 

93 


THE  YOUNG  ALASKANS  ON  THE  TRAIL 

very  fine  ram.  Do  you  want  to  have  a  look 
at  them  ?  Be  very  careful — they're  up  at  the 
top  of  the  slope,  and  haven't  come  down  over 
the  trail  yet.  Be  careful,  now,  how  you  put 
your  heads  over." 

The  two  boys  now  slowly  approached  the 
crest,  and,  almost  trembling  with  excitement, 
peered  over.  Alex  following,  laid  a  hand  on 
John's  leg  and  another  on  Rob's  shoulder,  for 
fear  they  would  make  some  sudden  move- 
ment and  frighten  the  game.  When  at  length 
the  boys  crawled  back  from  the  ridge  they 
were  very  much  excited.  "What'll  we  do 
now,  Alex?"  asked  John.  "They're  too  far 
off  to  shoot." 

"Wait,"  said  Alex;  "they're  going  to  come 
on  down  the  trail.  I  think  they  water  at  some 
spring  in  the  mountain,  although  I  don't  know. 
In  fifteen  or  twenty  minutes  they'll  be  pretty 
close  to  us — inside  of  two  hundred  yards,  at 
least,  I  should  think. 

"Now  listen,"  he  continued  to  the  boys, 
"and  mind  what  I  tell  you.  There  are  two 
rams  there,  and  if  we  get  them  we  need  noth- 
ing more.  I'll  not  shoot  unless  I  need  to. 
Rob,  you'll  take  the  ram  which  is  farthest  to 
the  right,  at  the  time  I  tell  you  to  fire,  and 
you,  Mr.  John,  will  take  the  other  ram,  no 
matter  whether  it's  the  big  one  or  the  little 

94 


A  HUNT  FOR  BIGHORN 

one.  Let  the  ewes  alone.  And  whatever 
you  do,  don't  shoot  into  the  flock — wait  until 
each  of  you  can  see  his  animal  ready  for  a 
distinct  shot.  If  either  of  you  misses,  I'll 
help  him  out — there's  three  or  four  hundred 
yards  of  good  shooting  all  up  that  mountain 
face.  Now  mind  one  thing;  don't  have  any 
buck  fever  here!  None  of  that,  do  you  hear 
me?' 

Alex  spoke  rather  sternly  this  time,  but 
it  was  with  a  purpose.  He  saw  that  the 
hands  of  both  the  boys  were  rather  trembling, 
and  knew  that  sometimes  when  a  man  is  in 
that  nervous  condition  a  sharp  word  will 
have  the  effect  of  quieting  and  steadying 
him. 

Rob  looked  at  him  quickly,  and  then  smiled. 
"Oh,  I  see,"  said  he. 

They  were  all  talking  in  low  whispers, 
so  that  they  might  not  be  overheard  by  the 
game,  if  it  should  come  closer.  "  It's  no 
disgrace  to  have  buck  fever,"  said  Alex,  in 
his  low  tone.  "Injuns  even  get  excited, 
and  I've  known  old  hunters  to  get  buck  fever 
right  in  the  middle  of  a  hunt,  without  any 
reason  they  could  tell  anything  about.  But 
now,  when  you're  steady  enough,  we'll  all 
crawl  up  once  in  a  while  and  have  a  look." 

He  kept  a  steadying  hand  on  both  the 
95 


THE  YOUNG  ALASKANS  ON  THE  TRAIL 

boys  when  a  few  minutes  later  they  ap- 
proached the  rim  of  the  ridge  once  more. 
By  this  time  the  sheep,  which  had  not  in  the 
least  taken  alarm,  were  advancing  rather 
steadily  down  the  narrow  path  on  the  steep 
mountain  face.  The  biggest  ram  was  in 
advance,  a  stately  and  beautiful  game  crea- 
ture, such  as  would  have  made  a  prize  for 
the  most  experienced  of  hunters.  It  was  all 
Rob  could  do  to  keep  from  an  exclamation  of 
delight  at  seeing  these  rather  queer  creatures 
so  close  at  hand  and  unsuspicious  of  the 
hunters'  presence. 

Alex  pulled  them  down  once  more,  and 
sternly  admonished  them  to  be  quiet.  "  Wait 
now,"  he  whispered,  "one  minute  by  the 
watch." 

When  the  minute,  which  seemed  an  hour 
in  length,  had  elapsed,  Alex  put  his  finger 
on  his  lips  for  silence  and  motioned  to  each 
boy  to  see  that  his  rifle  was  ready.  Then 
cautiously  they  all  pushed  up  once  more 
to  the  edge  of  the  ridge. 

This  time  they  saw  all  five  of  the  sheep 
standing  closely  bunched  together,  two  or 
three  of  them  with  their  heads  down.  There 
seemed  to  be  a  slight  moist  place  among 
the  slate  rocks  where  perhaps  some  sort  of 
saline  water  oozed  out,  and  it  was  this  that 

96 


A  HUNT  FOR  BIGHORN 

these  animals  had  visited  so  often  as  to  make 
a  deep  trail  on  the  mountain  -  side.  Alex 
shook  his  head  as  Rob  turned  an  inquiring 
glance  at  him,  and  the  boys,  who  by  this  time 
were  steady,  did  not  shoot  into  the  huddled 
band  of  sheep. 

They  lay  thus  for  what  seemed  a  long 
time,  eagerly  watching  the  game  animals 
which  were  unconscious  of  any  hunters' 
presence.  One  of  the  sheep,  a  yearling,  be- 
gan to  jump  up  and  down,  bouncing  like  a 
rubber  ball  in  its  sportive  antics,  which  al- 
most made  John  laugh  as  he  watched  it. 
Turning  to  look  at  this,  the  smaller  ram 
paced  off  to  the  right,  followed  now  by  the 
larger  ram.  Both  creatures  now,  as  if  they 
had  some  sense  of  danger,  stood  with  their 
majestic  heads  raised,  looking  steadily  about 
and  apparently  scanning  the  air  to  catch  the 
taint  of  danger.  Thus  they  offered  a  good 
mark  to  the  riflemen. 

"Shoot!"  whispered  Alex,  quickly;  and 
almost   as   he   spoke   two   reports   rang   out. 

At  the  report  of  Rob's  rifle  the  lesser  ram, 
which  was  the  one  that  stood  to  the  left,  fell 
as  though  struck  by  a  hammer,  shot  through 
the  shoulders  and  killed  at  once.  The  larger 
ram,  which  had  fallen  to  John's  lot,  was  not 
struck  beyond  a  slight  singe  of  the  bullet  along 

97 


THE  YOUNG  ALASKANS  ON  THE  TRAIL 

the  hair  of  its  back.  It  sprang,  and  with  in- 
credible speed  began  to  make  its  way  up  the 
opposite  slope.  The  ewes  also  scattered  and 
ran.  Alex  was  on  the  point  of  using  his  rifle, 
when  again  John's  piece  rang  out,  and  this  time 
the  great  ram,  hit  fair  by  the  bullet,  fell  and 
rolled  over  and  over  until  it  reached  the  bot- 
tom of  the  slope  quite  dead. 

Both  of  the  boys  sprang  to  their  feet  and 
gave  a  wild  whoop  of  exultation.  They  were 
trembling  now,  although  they  did  not  know 
it,  and  jabbered  excitedly  as  they  started  on 
down  the  slope  to  their  game.  Alex  followed 
slowly,  calmly  filling  his  pipe  and  smiling  his 
approval. 

"That's  good  work  for  young  hunters," 
said  he.  "I  couldn't  have  done  better.  Mr. 
John,  you  missed  your  first  shot.  Do  you 
know    why?" 

"I  know,"  said  Rob.  "He  didn't  allow 
for  shooting  downhill.  A  fellow  nearly  al- 
ways shoots  too  high  when  he  shoots  at  any- 
thing away  down  below  him." 

"Quite  right,"  nodded  Alex,  "and  a  very 
common  fault  in  mountain  hunting." 

"Well,  I  got  him  the  next  time,"  said 
John.  "  If  you  can  see  where  your  bullet 
goes  you  can  tell  how  to  shoot  the  next 
shot." 

98 


A  HUNT  FOR  BIGHORN 

"They're  two  magnificent  sheep,"  said 
Alex,  admiringly,  "and  we've  got  to  take  out 
both  these  heads,  for  they're  too  good  to 
leave  in  the  mountains.  I  suppose  now  we 
will  have  to  do  a  little  butchering." 

He  drew  his  great  knife  from  his  belt,  and 
now  in  very  skilful  way  began  to  skin,  clean, 
and  dismember  the  sheep,  doubling  back 
the  half-disjointed  legs  and  the  hams  and 
shoulders  and  throwing  the  separated  pieces 
of  meat  on  the  skins,  which  were  spread  out, 
flesh  side  up,  on  the  ground.  He  took  out 
the  shoulders  and  hams  of  each  sheep  and 
split  the  remainder  of  the  carcass,  detaching 
the  ribs  along  the  spine  with  blows  of  his 
heavy  bladed  knife.  After  a  little  he  rolled 
up  the  meat  of  each  sheep  in  its  own  hide, 
lashed  it  firmly  with  thong,  and  made  it  into 
two  packs.  The  heads  he  next  skinned  out, 
showing  the  boys  how  to  open  the  skin  along 
the  back  of  the  neck,  and  across  the  head 
between  the  horns.  He  asked  for  their 
smaller  and  keener  knives  when  it  came  to 
skinning  out  the  ears,  eyes  and  nostrils,  but 
removed  the  scalp  from  each  sheep  without 
making  a  cut  which  showed  through  the  skin. 

"Now,"  said  he  at  last,  "when  we  get  the 
meat  trimmed  off  these  skull-bones  you'll  have 
a  couple  of  sheep  heads  that  many  a  hunter 

99 


THE  YOUNG  ALASKANS  ON  THE  TRAIL 

would  give  hundreds  of  dollars  to  kill  for 
himself.  They  are  going  to  be  awkward  to 
carry,  though,  I'll  tell  you  that." 

"How  much  would  one  of  these  rams 
weigh,  Alex?"  asked  Rob. 

"The  biggest  one  a  couple  of  hundred 
pounds,  maybe,"  said  Alex.  "The  green 
head,  this  way,  might  make  fifty  of  that. 
I  don't  know.  We'll  have  to  make  two 
trips  down  to  the  bivouac,  that's  one  thing 
sure.  Maybe  we  can  lighten  the  heads  by 
trimming  out  to-night." 

"  I'll  tell  you,  Alex,"  said  Rob;  "  if  you  can 
take  one  of  the  meat  packs  we'll  take  one  of 
the  heads  between  us.  It's  downhill  from 
here  to  where  we  left  the  blankets." 

"All  right,"  answered  Alex.  "I  could 
carry  a  couple  of  hundred  pounds  down 
here,  I  suppose,  but  there's  plenty  of  time, 
as  we  aren't  more  than  a  mile  from  camp. 
So  come  ahead." 

Proceeding  in  this  way  they  finally  did 
get  all  their  meat  down  to  the  little  bivouac 
they  had  made  under  the  spruce-trees.  They 
were  very  tired  but  happy  by  this  time,  and 
hungry  as  well,  for  now  evening  was  closing 
down. 

"I'll  show  you  how  to  make  a  fire  now," 
said  Alex,    "because  you  will   see  that  we 

IOO 


A  HUNT  FOR   BIGHORN 

aren't  over  sand  or  gravel  i:>  this,  cap  lp'ri? 
place,  as  we  are  on  the  river.  ' 

He  scraped  away  the  bed  of  spruce  needles 
and  loose  soil  until  he  got  down  to  the  moist 
and  sandy  layer,  with  some  rocks  here  and 
there  projecting  through. 

"That'll  do,  I  think,"  said  he.  "We 
won't  build  a  big  fire,  and  we'll  have  rocks 
under  and  around  it  all  we  can.  You  always 
want  to  remember  that  a  forest  fire  is  a  terri- 
ble thing,  and  nearly  always  they  come  from 
careless  camp-fires.  You  know  the  earth 
itself  burns  in  a  forest  like  this.  Never  allow 
a  fire  to  get  away,  and  never  leave  it  burning. 
These  are  laws  which  we  have  to  follow  up 
here,  or  we  get  into  trouble." 


IX 

A   NIGHT    IN   THE    MOUNTAINS 

"  T  BELIEVE  I  like  it  up  here  better  than  I 

1  do  along  the  river,"  said  John,  after 
they  finally  had  their  little  fire  going. 

"Yes,"  remarked  Rob,  "you  can  see  out 
farther  here.  The  mountains  are  fine.  See 
how  pink  they  are  over  where  the  snow  is — 
the  sun  from  the  west  makes  it  all  like  a 
picture,  doesn't  it?" 

"  I  never  tire  of  the  mountains,"  said  Alex, 
"  and  I've  lived  among  them  many  years." 

"I'd  like  to  be  a  hunter,"  Rob  began. 

"  Not  to-day, ' '  rejoined  Alex.  "  Our  people 
can't  make  a  living  that  way  now.  We  have 
to  buy  things  of  the  Company,  and  pay  for 
them  with  our  furs  and  robes.  But  we'll  be 
hunters  for  this  time,  sure,  with  meat  in  camp 
and  two  fine  heads  as  well.  I  wish  we  could 
eat  some  to-night." 

"Why,  why  can't  we?"  demanded  John, 
who  looked  as  though  he  could  eat  a  good- 
sized  piece  quite  raw. 

102 


A  NIGHT  IN  THE  MOUNTAINS 

"We  could  if  we  had  to,"  said  Alex,  "but 
the  meat  will  be  better  if  we  let  it  hang  over 
night.  If  we  ate  too  much  of  the  very  fresh 
meat  it  might  make  us  sick." 

"Men  eat  bear  liver  the  day  it  is  killed." 

"  Yes,  white  men  do,  but  not  many  Indians 
will  eat  bear  liver  at  all.  We  can  try  some  of 
the  sheep  liver,  if  you  like,  for  I've  brought  it 
down  in  the  packs.  For  that  matter,  it  won't 
hurt  us  maybe  to  try  a  little  piece  of  meat 
roasted  on  a  stick  before  the  fire,  the  way  the 
Indians  cook.  That,  with  a  bit  of  bacon  and 
some  bannock  that  I'll  make,  will  do  us,  if  we 
have  a  cup  of  tea.  You  see,  I've  a  little  can 
along  which  I  got  in  Moise's  cook-bag." 

"  I  don't  seehowyou're  going  to  makebread," 
began  John,  "for  you  haven't  got  any  pan." 

"No,  Injuns  don't  always  have  pans  like 
white  people,"  said  Alex,  laughing,  "but  I'll 
show  you.  I'll  use  the  flour-sack  for  a  pan — 
just  pour  the  water  right  in  on  the  flour  and 
mix  it  up  in  the  sack.  All  outdoor  men  know 
that  trick.  An  Injun  would  take  a  stick  and 
roll  around  in  that  white  dough  and  roast  that 
dough  ball  before  the  fire  along  with  his 
meat,"  he  said,  "but  I  think  by  taking  a 
slab  'of  bark  we  can  cook  our  bannock  some- 
how, a  little  bit,  at  least,  as  though  we  had  a 
pan  to  lean  up  before  the  fire." 
8  I03 


THE  YOUNG  ALASKANS  ON  THE  TRAIL 

The  boys  found  new  proof  of  the  old  say- 
ing that  hunger  is  the  best  sauce.  For  though 
their  meal  was  really  very  frugal,  they  en- 
joyed it  heartily,  and  having  had  a  cup  of 
tea,  they  forgot  all  about  their  fatigue. 

The  shadows  were  coming  down  across 
the  near-by  ridges  when  at  length  they  turned 
to  Alex  inquiringly. 

"We  want  to  know  where  we're  going  to 
make  our  beds." 

"  Well,  this  big  spruce-tree  is  a  good  enough 
tent  for  me — the  lower  branches  spread  out 
almost  like  an  umbrella.  We  won't  keep 
much  fire,  but  if  I  get  cold  in  the  night,  not 
having  any  blankets,  I'll  just  make  a  little 
fire.  You  know,  I  don't  need  to  sleep  as 
warmly  as  you  do." 

"Well,"  said  John,  "you  ought  to  get 
under  part  of  our  blanket." 

"Then  we'd  all  be  cold.  Keep  some  of 
the  blanket  under  you,  for  that's  where  the 
cold  comes  from,  not  from  above.  I  may 
after  a  while  push  the  ashes  back  from  our 
fireplace  and  lie  down  on  the  ground  where 
it  has  been  made  warm  by  the  fire.  Injuns 
sometimes  do  that  when  they  can't  do  any 
better.  Mostly,  however,  we  depend  on  keep- 
ing up  a  fire  if  it  is  very  cold  and  we  have  no 

robe  or  blanket." 

104 


A  NIGHT  IN  THE  MOUNTAINS 

High  up  in  the  hills  where  they  were  it 
grew  very  cold  at  night,  and  the  boys,  shiver- 
ing in  their  scanty  covering,  woke  up  more 
than  once.  Sometimes  they  would  see  Alex 
lying  quite  asleep,  and  again  he  would  be 
sitting  up  smoking  his  pipe,  leaning  against 
the  trunk  of  the  tree.  In  some  way,  however, 
the  night  wore  through,  although  they  were 
glad  when  at  length  the  sun  came  up  and  they 
could  all  stretch  their  cramped  and  stiffened 
limbs. 

"My  eyes  have  got  sticks  in  them,"  said 
John,  rubbing  at  his  face. 

"And  my  hair  pulls  a  little  bit,  too,"  Rob 
added.  "I  forgot  to  bring  my  comb,  or 
even  my  tooth-brush." 

"Well,  one  thing,"  said  Alex,  as  he  built 
up  the  fire.  "We'll  have  some  sheep  meat 
for  breakfast,  all  right.  The  animal  heat  will 
be  all  out  of  it  now,  and  we'll  have  a  hearty 
meal.  We'll  need  it  too,  for  it's  quite  a  way 
down  to  camp,  several  miles,  that's  sure." 

They  finished  their  breakfast  while  the  sun 
was  still  low  over  the  eastern  mountains, 
and  presently  began  to  think  about  the  home- 
ward march. 

"They'll  be  wondering  about  us  down 
there,"  said  Rob,  "  and  I'm  mighty  glad  we've 
made  our  hunt  and  can  get  home  so  soon." 

105 


THE  YOUNG  ALASKANS  ON  THE  TRAIL 

"  We  might  not  be  able  to  do  it  again  in  a 
dozen  hunts,"  said  Alex.  "Game  isn't  as 
abundant  as  it  once  was." 

"  I  should  say  not,"  said  John.  "When  you 
read  in  the  stories  about  Mackenzie  and 
Fraser,  and  all  those  old  fellows,  they'll  tell 
about  seeing  all  kinds  of  game  from  the  boat 
just  as  they  went  along." 

"  We'll  do  the  same  when  we  get  out  of  the 
mountains,"  Alex  replied;  "but  not  buffalo 
and  caribou  any  more.  Bear  and  moose 
we'll  be  very  apt  to  see. 

"We'll  double-portage  these  loads  for  one 
trip,  at  least,"  he  resumed.  "I'll  make  the 
first  trip  with  one  head  on  top  of  my  pack, 
and  if  you  can  manage  the  other  one  for  a 
little  way  I'll  come  back  for  the  rest  of  the 
meat,  and  we'll  go  about  half-way  down 
toward  the  boats  on  our  first  trip.  As  you 
probably  can't  travel  as  fast  as  I  can,  I'm 
going  ahead,  but  I'll  blaze  the  trees  as  I  go. 
Then  I'll  drop  my  load  and  come  back  to 
meet  you.  When  you  come  to  my  first 
load  you  must  stop  there  until  I  catch  up 
with  you  again.  As  I'll  be  below  you  all  the 
time,  at  first,  there'll  be  no  danger  about 
your  getting  off  the  trail." 

"No  danger  anyhow,"  said  Rob.  "We've 
often  followed  a  trail  that  way." 

106 


A  NIGHT  IN  THE  MOUNTAINS 

Indeed,  the  young  hunters  proved  them- 
selves quite  good  woodsmen  enough  to  follow 
Alex  down  the  mountain  face  into  the  thicket 
of  the  plateau.  He  went  almost  at  a  trot, 
loaded  as  he  was,  and  as  the  boys  found  the 
big  ram's  head  a  heavy  load  for  them  to  carry 
between  them  on  the  stick,  they  met  him 
as  he  was  coming  back  up  the  mountains, 
when  they  themselves  were  not  a  great  deal 
more  than  half-way  down  to  the  place  where 
he  had  dropped  his  pack. 

"It's  all  plain,"  said  Alex,  "for  I  followed 
our  old  trail  down  the  hill,  and  put  a  branch 
across  two  or  three  places  so  that  you'll  know 
when  you're  near  the  pack." 

They  found  no  difficulty  in  obeying  his 
instructions,  and  so  tired  were  they  that  it 
seemed  but  a  short  time  before  presently 
Alex  joined  them  for  a  second  time,  carrying 
the  remainder  of  the  meat  on  his  tump-strap. 

"Now,"  said  he,  "we're  a  great  deal  more 
than  half-way  down  to  the  boats.  We  won't 
come  back  for  the  second  trip  at  all  now,  and 
we'll  take  our  time  with  the  loads.  I'll  send 
Moise  up  for  one  pack,  which  we  will  leave 
here." 

"Suppose  he  doesn't  want  to  come?" 
asked    John. 

"  Oh,  Moise  will  be  glad  to  come.     He's  a 
107 


THE  YOUNG  ALASKANS  ON  THE  TRAIL 

good  packer  and  a  cheerful  man.  Besides, 
I  suppose  that  would  be  his  business  as  we 
look  at  it  among  our  people.  In  the  old 
times,  when  Sir  Alexander  came  through,  a 
hunter  did  nothing  but  hunt.  If  he  killed  a 
head  of  game  the  people  around  the  post  had 
to  go  out  and  get  it  for  themselves  if  they 
wanted  it  brought  in." 

"But  how  will  Moise  find  this  place?" 
asked  John,  anxiously.  M I  don't  want  to 
lose  this  head,  I'll  tell  you  that." 

Alex  laughed.  "He'll  come  right  to  the 
place!  I'll  explain  to  him,  so  he'll  know 
right  where  it  is." 

"Although  he  has  never  been  here  before?" 

"Surely;  one  Injun  can  tell  another  how 
to  go  to  a  place.  Besides,  our  trail  will  be 
as  plain  as  a  board-walk  to  him.  He's  used 
to  that  kind  of  work,  you  see." 

All  of  this  came  out  quite  as  Alex  had  said. 
They  took  their  time  in  finishing  their  jour- 
ney, but  it  was  long  before  noon  when  they 
arrived  at  the  boat  encampment  on  the  banks 
of  the  river,  where  they  were  greeted  with 
great  joy  by  Jesse  and  Moise.  Then,  although 
it  was  not  yet  time  for  lunch,  Moise  insisted 
on  cooking  once  more,  a  plan  to  which  John 
gave  very  hearty  assent,  and  in  which  all 
the   others   joined. 

108 


A  NIGHT  IN  THE  MOUNTAINS 

After  a  while  Alex  and  Moise,  each  smok- 
ing contentedly,  began  to  converse  in  their 
own  tongue,  Alex  sometimes  making  a  gesture 
toward  the  mountains  off  to  the  east,  and 
Moise  nodding  a  quiet  assent.  After  a  time, 
without  saying  anything,  Moise  got  up, 
tightened  his  belt,  filled  his  pipe  once  more, 
and  departed  into  the  bush." 

"Are  you  sure  he'll  find  that  meat?"  de- 
manded John,  "and  bring  down  that  big- 
horn  head?" 

"He  certainly  will,"  said  Alex;  "he'll 
run  that  trail  like  a  dog,  and  just  about  as 
fast.  Moise  used  to  be  a  good  man,  though 
he  says  now  he  can't  carry  over  two  hundred 
pounds  without  getting  tired." 

"Well,  listen  at  that!"  said  Jesse.  "Two 
hundred  pounds!  I  shouldn't  think  any- 
body could  carry  that." 

"Men  have  carried  as  much  as  six  hundred 
pounds  for  a  little  way,"  said  Alex.  "On 
the  old  portage  trails  two  packets,  each  of 
ninety  pounds,  was  the  regular  load,  and 
some  men  would  take  three.  That  was  two 
hundred  and  seventy  pounds  at  least;  and 
they  would  go  on  a  trot.  You  see,  a  country 
produces  its  own  men,  my  young  friends." 

"Well,  that's  the  fun  of  a  trip  like  this," 
said    Rob.     "That,    and    following    out    the 

109 


THE  YOUNG  ALASKANS  ON  THE  TRAIL 

trails  of  the  old  fellows  who  first  came  through 
here." 

"Now,"  continued  Alex,  getting  up  and 
looking  about  the  camp,  "we  have  meat  in 
camp,  and  fish  also.  I  think  perhaps  we'd 
better  dry  a  part  of  our  sheep  meat,  as  we 
used  to  the  meat  of  the  buffalo  in  the  old 
days.  We'll  smoke  it  a  little,  cutting  it  thin 
and  spreading  it  in  the  sun.  By  keeping  the 
fresh  meat  under  boughs  so  the  flies  won't  get 
at  it,  it'll  stay  good  for  quite  a  little  while  too. 
We  don't  want  to  waste  anything,  of  course." 

They  were  busy  about  their  odd  jobs  in  the 
camp  when,  long  before  they  would  have  ex- 
pected it,  Moise  came  trotting  down  the  base 
of  the  timbered  ridge  above  the  camp,  and, 
still  smoking  and  still  smiling,  tossed  down 
the  big  bundle  of  meat  and  the  other  sheep- 
head  on  the  ground  beside  the  fire. 

"By  gosh!  Those  will  be  fine  head!"  said 
he.  "If  I'll  had  this  head  in  Winnipeg  I'll 
got  hondred  dollars  for  each  one,  me,  maybe  so. 
Now  I'll  show  you  how  for  cook  some  sheep 
to-night  after  supper." 

"You  mean  at  supper,  don't  you?"  asked 
Rob. 

"  Non!  Non!  We'll  eat  supper,  wait  a 
while,  then  those  sheep  meat  he'll  look  good 
some  more.     I'll  show  you." 


A  NIGHT  IN  THE  MOUNTAINS 

"  Are  you  going  to  tell  us  another  story  to- 
night?" asked  Jesse,  eagerly. 

"Yes,  after  supper  I'll  tol'  you  some  more 
story,"  assented  Moise.  "  We  stay  here  may- 
be two,  three  day  now,  so  to-morrow  I  think 
we'll  be  in  camp.  All  right.  To-night  we'll 
tell  the  story  some  more." 


X 

HOW   THE    SPLIT-STONE    LAKE    WAS   NAMED 

AS  Moise  was  even  hungrier  than  John, 
•  there  seemed  no  objection  to  eating  an- 
other meal  even  before  sundown.  The  even- 
ing came  off  fair  and  cool,  so  that  the  mosqui- 
toes did  not  bother  the  campers.  As  the  chill 
of  the  mountain  night  came  on,  the  boys  put 
on  their  blanket  coats  and  pulled  the  bed-rolls 
close  up  to  the  fire,  near  which  the  men  both 
sat  smoking  quietly.  Already  the  boys  were 
beginning  to  learn  reticence  in  camp  with 
men  like  these,  and  not  to  interrupt  with  too 
many  questions;  but  at  length  Jesse's  eager- 
ness to  hear  Moise 's  story  could  no  longer  be 
restrained. 

"You  promised  to  tell  us  something  to- 
night, Moise,"  said  he.  "What's  it  going 
to   be?" 

"First  I'll  must  got  ready  for  story,"  said 
Moise.  "In  the  camp  my  people  eat  wThen 
they  tell  story.  I'll  fix  some  of  those  sheep 
meat  now." 


HOW  THE  SPLIT-STONE  LAKE  WAS  NAMED 

Borrowing  his  big  knife  from  Alex,  Moise 
now  cut  himself  a  sharp-pointed  stick  of 
wood,  two  or  three  feet  long,  and  stuck  one 
end  of  this  into  each  end  of  the  side  of  sheep 
ribs  which  lay  at  the  meat  pile.  Finding  a 
thong,  he  tied  it  to  the  middle  of  the  stick, 
and  making  himself  a  tall  tripod  for  a  support, 
he  suspended  the  piece  of  meat  directly  over 
the  fire  at  some  distance  above,  so  that  it 
could  not  burn,  but  would  revolve  and  cook 
slowly. 

"Suppose  in  a  half -hour  I'll  can  tell  story 
now,"  said  Moise,  laughing  pleasantly.  "No 
use  how  much  sheep  meat  you  eat,  always 
you  eat  more!" 

At  last,  however,  at  what  must  have  been 
nine  or  ten  o'clock  at  night,  at  least,  perhaps 
later,  after  Moise  had  cut  for  each  of  the  boys 
a  smoking  hot  rib  of  the  delicious  mountain 
mutton,  he  sat  back,  a  rib-bone  in  his  own 
hand,  and  kept  his  promise  about  the  story. 

"I'll  tol'  you  last  night,  young  mens," 
he  said,  "how  about  those  Wiesacajac,  the 
spirit  that  goes  aroun'  in  the  woods.  Now 
in  the  fur  country  east  of  the  mountains  is  a 
Lake  where  a  rock  is  on  the  shore,  split  in 
two  piece,  an'  the  people  call  that  the  Split- 
Stone  Lake.  Listen,  I  speak.  I  tell  now 
how  the  lake  he's  got  that  name. 

"3 


THE  YOUNG  ALASKANS  ON  THE  TRAIL 

"  Wiesacajac,  he'll  make  hont  sometime  in 
that  country,  an'  he'll  come  on  a  camp  where 
all  the  men  are  out  honting.  Only  two 
peoples  is  left  in  camp,  same  like  you  leave  us 
two  peoples  here  when  you  go  hont.  But 
these  two  peoples  is  little,  one  boy,  one  girl. 
The  mens  an'  womens  all  go  hont  in  the  woods 
and  there  is  no  meat  in  camp  at  all.  The 
children  were  not  old  for  hont  or  for  feesh. 
Their  papa  an'  their  mamma  say,  'Stay  here.' 
So  they  stay  an'  wait.  They  have  wait  many 
days.  Pretty  soon  now  they'll  gone  dead  for 
starve  so  long. 

"Now  Wiesacajac,  he'll  come  an'  stan' 
by  the  fire,  an'  see  those  little  peoples.  '  Oh, 
Wiesacajac,'  they'll  say,  'we're  ver'  hongree. 
We  have  not  eat  for  many  days.  We  do  not 
think  our  peoples  will  come  back  no  more. 
We'll  not  know  what  for  do.' 

"Now,  Wiesacajac,  he'll  been  always  kin'. 
'Oh,  now,  my  childrens,'  he'll  say,  'this  is 
bad  news  what  you  give  me,  ver'  bad  indeed. 
You'll  make  me  cry  on  you,  I'll  been  so  sorry 
for  you.  You're  on  this  lake  where  the  win' 
comes,  an'  the  country  is  bare,  an'  there  is 
no  game.' 

"  He'll  look  aroun'  an'  see  nothing  in  those 
camp  but  one  piece  of  swanskin,  ol'  dry  swan- 
skin, all  eat  clean  of  meat.     Then  he'll  look 

114 


HOW  THE  SPLIT-STONE  LAKE  WAS  NAMED 

out  on  the  lake,  an'  he'll  see  a  large  flock  of 
swans  stay  there  where  no  man  can  come. 
Those  swan  will  know  the  children  was  hon- 
gree,  but  they'll  not  like  for  get  killed  their- 
selves. 

"  Wiesacajac  he'll  say,  '  My  children,  why  do 
you  starve  when  there's  meat  there  in  front 
of  you?' 

"Those  was  child  of  a  honter.  'Yes,'  said 
those  boy,  'what  use  is  that  meat  to  us? 
It's  daylight.  You  know  ver'  well  you'll 
not  can  come  up  to  the  swans.' 

'"Ah,  ha!  Was  that  so?'  said  Wiesacajac. 
'Let  me  show  you  somethings,  then.' 

"So  Wiesacajac,  he'll  take  those  ol'  swan- 
skin an'  put  it  on  hees  head.  Then  he'll 
walk  down  in  the  lake  an'  sink  down  till  just 
the  head  and  breast  of  those  swanskin  will 
show  on  the  water.  Wiesacajac,  he'll  be 
good  honter,  too.  He'll  sweem  aroun'  in  the 
lake  foolish,  but  all  tarn  he'll  come  closer  to 
those  swan,  an'  closer.  Those  swan  she'll 
be  wise  bird,  an'  they'll  saw  heem  an'  they'll 
say,  'There's  one  of  us  that  we'll  not  miss — 
what '11  he  doing  out  there?' 

"  Then  they  begin  to  sweem  toward  Wiesa- 
cajac, an'  Wiesacajac  begin  to  sweem  toward 
them.  Bimeby  he'll  been  right  among  'em. 
Then  these  two  hongree  boy  an'  girl  on  the 

"5 


THE  YOUNG  ALASKANS  ON  THE  TRAIL 

camp  they'll  holler  out  to  each  other,  for 
they'll  see  one  swan  after  another  flap  his  wing 
an'  jump  for  a  fly,  but  then  fall  back  on 
water,  for  he'll  can't  fly  at  all. 

"Wiesacajac,  he'll  have  some  babiche — 
some  hide  string,  aroun'  hees  waist,  an'  he'll 
took  it  now  an'  tie  the  feet  of  all  those  swan 
together,  so  all  they'll  can  do  is  to  flap  hees 
wing  an'  scream  an'  blow  their  horn  like  the 
swan  do.  At  last  he'll  got  them  all  tied  fast — 
the  whole  flock.  But  he'll  can't  hold  so  many 
swan  down  on  the  water.  Those  swan  will 
all  begin  to  trumpet  an'  fly  off  together,  an' 
they'll  carry  Wiesacajac  with  them.  Now 
he'll  let  them  fly  until  they  come  right  near 
where  those  two  hongree  boy  an'  girl  is  sit,  an' 
going  for  starve.  Then  he'll  drop  down  an' 
tie  the  end  of  hees  babiche  to  a  strong  bush. 
Voila!  Those  whole  flock  of  swan  is  tie'  fast 
to  camp.  None  but  Wiesacajac  can  do  this 
thing. 

'"Now  my  childrens,'  say  Wiesacajac, 
kin'ly,  to  those  boy  an'  girl,  '  you  see,  there's 
plenty  of  meat  in  your  camp.  Go  now,  cook 
an'  eat.' 

"So  now  those  children  go  an'  keel  a  swan 
an'  skin  it,  an'  get  it  ready  for  cook.  By  this 
time  Wiesacajac  he'll  done  make  the  fire. 
He'll  not  want  to  set  woods  on  fire,  so  he'll 

116 


HOW  THE  SPLIT-STONE  LAKE  WAS  NAMED 

build  it  by  those  big  rocks  which  always 
stood  by  that  lake.  Here  they'll  cook  the 
swan  an'  eat  all  they  want,  same  like  we  do 
the  sheep  meat  here  to-night.  Those  two 
childrens  he'll  wish  his  parent  was  both 
there.  He'll  say,  they'll  not  be  hongree  no 
more  never.  He'll  put  some  meat  on  a 
leaf  for  those  ol'  people  when  they  come 
back. 

"Well,  Wiesacajac,  he'll  say  bimeby,  'Now 
I  mus'  go.  When  those  parent  of  yours  come 
back,  an'  they  see  those  swan,  they'll  not  go 
for  believe  unless  I  leave  a  sign.  To  show 
them  an'  the  other  people  who  has  been  here, 
an'  to  show  all  the  people  who  hont  that  it  is 
wise  never  to  get  discourage',  but  always  to 
keep  on  trying  when  you  are  hongree  or  in 
trouble,  I  make  some  mark  on  this  place,  me.' 

"So  now  Wiesacajac  he'll  go  down  to  the 
water,  an'  he'll  come  back  with  his  two  hands 
full  of  those  water.  Of  course,  you  know 
Wiesacajac  he'll  been  much  taller  than  any 
mans.  So  he'll  stoop  just  this  way,  one  leg 
each  side  of  those  two  rocks,  right  at  this 
place.  An'  from  his  two  han'  he'll  let  fall 
those  water  on  those  hot  stone.  Now,  you 
know,  if  you'll  put  water  on  hot  stone,  he'll 
split.  These  two  stone  she'll  split  wide  open 
from  top  to  bottom. 

117 


THE  YOUNG  ALASKANS  ON  THE  TRAIL 

"You  can  see  those  stone  there  now.  All 
the  peoples  know  them,  an'  call  them  the 
Split-Stone  Lake  all  the  time.  An'  they  all 
know  Wiesacajac  was  there,  an'  help  the  two 
childrens,  an'  split  those  stone  to  leave  it  for 
a  mark. 

"I  have  finish." 

"That  certainly  is  a  good  story,"  said 
Jesse.  "  I  like  those  stories  you  tell  up  here, 
for  I've  never  heard  any  just  like  them.  It 
makes  you  feel  like  you  were  out-of-doors, 
doesn't  it,  fellows?" 

"Yes,"  said  Rob,  "but  I'd  like  to  ask  you, 
Alex,  do  you  really  believe  in  all  those  stories 
about  spirits — the  Indian  spirits  ?  You  know, 
you  were  telling  me  that  you  went  to  church. 

"Yes,"  said  Alex,  "I  do.  The  Company 
likes  to  have  us  go  to  church,  and  when  we're 
around  the  post  we  do.  My  mother  was 
baptized,  although  she  was  an  Indian  woman. 
My  father  taught  me  to  read  the  Bible.  I 
believe  a  great  deal  as  you  do.  But  some- 
where in  me  I'm  part  Injun." 


XI 

LESSONS    IN    WILD    LIFE 

"\X7ELL,  Alex,"  said  John,  the  morning 
V  V  after  the  sheep  hunt,  as  they  sat  about 
the  fire  after  breakfast,   "it  doesn't  look  as 
though  we'd  saved  much  weight." 
"How  do  you  mean,  Mr.  John?" 
"  Well,  you  said  we  couldn't  kill  any  griz- 
zlies because  the  skins  were  too  heavy.     It 
seems  to  me  that  sheep  heads  are  just  as 
heavy  as  grizzly  heads." 

"That's  so, "^  said  Alex,  "but  the  sheep 
were  good  to  eat,  and  we  couldn't  leave  the 
heads  in  the  hills  after  we  had  killed  them. 
We'll  try  to  get  them  down  in  the  canoe  some- 
how. The  sheep  meat  has  been  very  useful, 
and  I  wish  we  had  more  of  it.  We'll  eat  it 
almost  all  up  in  this  camp,  I'm  thinking." 
"  I  suppose  we'd  better.  That  reminds 
me  of  a  story  my  Uncle  Dick  told  me,"  ven- 
tured Jesse.  "  He  said  he  was  out  fishing  with 
a  friend  one  time,  and  they  wanted  some 
grasshoppers  for  bait,  and  hadn't  any  way  to 

9  119 


THE  YOUNG  ALASKANS  ON  THE  TRAIL 

carry  them.  They  had  a  jar  of  marmalade, 
so  they  sat  down  and  ate  all  the  marmalade, 
and  then  they  had  a  good  place  to  keep  their 
grasshoppers.  I  suppose  if  we  eat  all  the 
meat  up,  we'll  have  a  place  for  the  heads." 

They  all  laughed  at  Jesse's  story,  but  John 
admitted  he  would  be  sorry  when  all  the  big- 
horn mutton  was  gone,  declaring  it  to  be  the 
best  meat  he  had  ever  eaten.  Rob  expressed 
wonder  at  the  way  the  meat  was  disappearing. 

"I  remember,  though,"  said  he,  "that  Sir 
Alexander  Mackenzie  tells  how  much  meat  his 
men  would  eat  in  camp.  They  had  a  party 
of  ten  men  and  a  dog  one  day,  and  they 
brought  in  two  hundred  and  fifty  pounds  of 
elk  meat.  They  had  had  a  hearty  meal  at  one 
o'clock  that  afternoon,  but  they  put  on  the 
kettles  and  boiled  and  ate  meat  that  night, 
and  roasted  the  rest  on  sticks,  and  by  ten 
o'clock  the  next  day  they  didn't  have  any 
meat  in  camp !  What  do  you  think  about  that  ?" 

"Maybe  so  to-night,  maybe  so  to-morrow 
no  more  sheep!"  grinned  Moise,  with  his 
mouth  still  full. 

"We'll  have  to  hunt  as  we  go  on  down," 
said  Alex.  "  We'll  be  in  good  game  country 
almost  all  the  way." 

Under  the  instructions  of  Alex  the  boys 
now  finished  the  preparation  of  the  sheep 

I20 


LESSONS  IN  WILD   LIFE 

heads  and  scalps,  paring  off  all  the  meat 
they  could  from  the  bones,  and  cleaning  the 
scalps,  which  they  spread  out  to  dry  after  salt- 
ing them  carefulty. 

"I  was  out  with  a  naturalist  one  trip," 
said  Alex,  "  and  he  collected  all  sorts  of  little 
animals  and  snakes,  and  that  sort  of  thing. 
When  we  wanted  to  clean  the  skeleton  of  a 
mouse  or  a  snake,  we  used  to  put  it  in  an  ant- 
hill. There  were  many  ants,  and  in  a  couple 
of  weeks  they'd  picked  the  bones  white  and 
clean,  as  if  they'd  been  sand-papered.  I 
suppose  we  haven't  time  for  that  sort  of 
thing  now,   though." 

"Why  couldn't  we  boil  the  meat  off?" 
suggested  Rob. 

"A  very  good  plan  for  a  skull,"  said  Alex, 
"excepting  for  a  bear  skull.  You  see,  if 
you  put  the  head  of  a  bear  in  boiling  water, 
the  tusks  will  always  split  open  later  on. 
With  the  bones  of  the  sheep's  head,  it  will 
not  make  so  much  difference.  But  we  could- 
n't get  the  horns  off  yet  awhile — they'll  have 
to  dry  out  before  they  will  slip  from  the  pith, 
and  the  best  way  is  not  to  take  them  off  at 
all.  If  we  keep  on  scraping  and  salting  we'll 
keep  our  heads,  all  right." 

"How  about  the  hides?"  asked  John, 
somewhat   anxiously. 

121 


THE  YOUNG  ALASKANS  ON  THE  TRAIL 

"  Well,  sheep  hides  were  never  very  much 
valued  among  our  people,"  replied  Alex. 
"  In  the  mountain  tribes  below  here  the  wo- 
men used  to  make  very  white,  soft  leather 
for  their  dresses  out  of  sheep  hides.  The  hair 
is  coarse  and  brittle,  however,  and  although 
it  will  do  for  a  little  while  as  a  bed,  I'm  afraid 
you  young  gentlemen  will  throw  away  the 
hides  when  you  finish  the  trip." 

"Well,  all  right,"  said  John.  "We  won't 
throw  them  away  just  yet.  Let's  spread 
them  out  and  tan  them.  What's  the  best 
way  to  do  that?" 

"The  Injuns  always  stake  out  a  hide,  on 
the  ground  or  on  a  frame,  flesh  side  up," 
said  Alex.  "Then  they  take  one  of  their 
little  scrapers  and  pare  all  the  meat  off. 
That's  the  main  thing,  and  that  is  the  slowest 
work.  When  you  get  down  to  the  real  hide, 
it  soon  dries  out  and  doesn't  spoil.  You  can 
tan  a  light  hide  with  softsoap,  or  salt  and 
alum.  Indeed,  the  Injuns  had  nothing  of 
that  sort  in  their  tanning — they'd  scrape  a 
hide  and  dry  it,  then  spread  some  brains  on 
it,  work  in  the  brains  and  dry  it  and  rub  it, 
and  last  of  all,  smoke  it.  In  that  way  they 
got  their  hides  very  soft,  and  after  they  were 
smoked  they  would  always  work  soft  in  case 
they  got  wet,  which  isn't  the  case  with  white 

122 


LESSONS   IN  WILD   LIFE 

man's  leather,  which  is  tanned  by  means  of 
acids  and  things  of  that  kind." 

"  I  have  tanned  little  squirrel  hides,  and 
ground-hog  hides,  and  wildcat  skins,"  said 
Rob,  "many  a  time.  It  isn't  any  trouble 
if  you  once  get  the  meat  all  scraped  off. 
That  seems  to  be  what  spoils  a  hide." 

"In  keeping  all  our  valuable  furs,"  said 
Alex,  "we  never  touch  them  with  salt  or 
alum.  We  just  stretch  them  flesh  side  out, 
and  let  them  dry  in  the  shade,  not  close  to  a 
fire.  This  keeps  the  life  all  in  the  fur.  Alum 
makes  the  hair  brittle  and  takes  away  the 
luster.  For  a  big  bear  hide,  if  I  were  far  back 
in  the  mountains,  I  would  put  lots  of  salt  on 
it  and  fold  it  up,  and  let  it  stay  away  for  a 
day.  Then  I  would  unroll  it  and  drain  it  off, 
and  salt  it  all  over  again;  tamp  salt  down 
into  the  ears,  nose,  eyes,  and  feet,  then  roll  it 
up  again  and  tie  it  tight,  with  the  fur  side  out. 
Bear  hides  will  keep  all  right  that  way  if  you 
haven't  sunshine  enough  to  dry  them.  The 
best  way  to  keep  a  hide,  though,  is  simply  to 
scrape  it  clean  and  dry  it  in  the  sun,  and  after 
that  fold  it.     It  will  never  spoil  then." 

"Alex,"  ventured  Moise,  laughing,  "you'll 
talk  just  like  my  old  woman  about  tan  hides. 
Those  business  is  not  for  mans." 

"That's  true,"  said  Alex,  smiling.  "In 
123 


THE  YOUNG  ALASKANS  ON  THE  TRAIL 

the  old  times,  when  we  had  buffalo,  the 
women  always  tanned  the  hides.  Hard  work 
enough  it  was,  too,  with  so  heavy  and  coarse 
a  hide.  Now  they  tan  the  moose  hides.  I'll 
show  you,  young  gentlemen,  lower  down  this 
river  near  the  camping  places  on  the  shore 
spruce-trees  cut  into  three-cornered  shape. 
You  might  not  know  what  that  was  for. 
It  was  done  so  that  the  women  could  rub  their 
moose  hides  around  these  angles  and  corners 
while  they  were  making  them  soft.  They 
make  fine  moose  leather,  too — although  I 
suppose  we'd  have  to  wait  a  good  while  before 
we  could  get  Moise  to  tan  one  in  that  way!" 

"  What  makes  them  use  brains  in  tanning 
the  hide?"  asked  Jesse. 

"Only  for  the  grease  there  is  in  them," 
said  Alex.  "  It  takes  some  sort  of  grease  to 
soften  up  a  hide  after  it  has  been  dried.  The 
Injuns  always  said  they  could  tan  a  hide 
with  the  brains  of  the  animal.  Sometimes 
in  tanning  a  buffalo  hide,  however,  they 
would  have  marrow  and  grease  and  scraps 
thrown  into  a  kettle  with  the  brains.  I  think 
the  main  secret  of  the  Injun  tanning  was  the 
amount  of  hard  work  put  in  on  rubbing  the 
hide.  That  breaks  up  the  fiber  and  makes  it 
soft. 

"But  now,  Moise,"  resumed  Alex,  getting 
124 


LESSONS  IN  WILD   LIFE 

up  and  filling  his  pipe,  "  I  think  it  is  about 
time  we  went  down  and  had  a  look  at  those 
rapids  below  the  camp.  We've  got  to  get 
through  there  somehow  before  long." 

"  I  don't  like  this  water  in  here  at  all,"  said 
Jesse,  looking  troubled.  "  I  could  hardly 
sleep  last  night  on  account  of  the  noises  it 
made — it  sounded  just  like  glass  was  being 
splintered  up  under  the  water." 

"That's  gravel,  or  small  rocks,  slipping 
along  on  the  bottom  in  the  current,  I  sup- 
pose," said  Alex,  "but  after  all  this  is  not 
nearly  so  bad  a  river  as  the  Fraser  or  the 
Columbia — you  ought  to  see  the  old  Columbia 
in  high  water !  I  'm  thinking  we'd  have  our  own 
troubles  getting  down  there  in  boats  as  small 
as  these.  In  a  deep  river  which  is  very  fast, 
and  which  has  a  rough  bottom,  all  sorts  of 
unaccountable  waves  and  swells  will  come  up 
from  below,  just  when  you  don't  expect 
them." 

"  These  rapeed  in  here,  she'll  been  all  right," 
said  Moise.     "No  trouble  to  ron  heem." 

"Well,  we'll  not  take  any  chances,"  said 
Alex,  "and  we'll  in  no  case  do  anything  to 
alarm  our  young  friends." 

He  turned  now,  and,  followed  by  Moise, 
crossed  the  neck  of  the  bend  and  passed  on 
down   the   river   some   distance.     The   boys, 

125 


THE  YOUNG  ALASKANS  ON  THE  TRAIL 

following  more  slowly  around  the  curve  of 
the  beach,  finally  saw  both  Alex  and  Moise 
poised  on  some  high  rocks  and  pointing  at  the 
wild  water  which  stretched  below  them  for 
the  distance  of  two  or  three  hundred  yards. 
Moise,  who  seemed  to  be  more  savage  than 
Alex,  made  a  wild  figure  as  he  stood  gesticulat- 
ing, a  red  handkerchief  bound  over  his  long, 
black  hair,  and  his  red  sash  holding  in  place 
the  ragged  remnants  of  his  trousers.  To  the 
boys  it  seemed  sure  that  the  boats  could  not 
get  through  such  water  at  all,  but  to  their 
surprise  the  two  men  seemed  not  in  the  least 
concerned  when  at  length  they  returned  to 
the  camp. 

"It's  a  little  rough,"  said  Alex,  "but  there 
seems  to  be  a  good  channel  out  in  the  middle, 
plenty  of  water.  We'll  run  the  boats  through 
all  right  without  any  trouble.  We'll  go 
through  light,  and  then  portage  the  camp 
stuff  across  the  bend  after  we  get  the  boats 
below  the  rapids.  Come  on  then,  young 
gentlemen,  and  help  us  get  ready.  It  may 
be  interesting  to  you  to  see  your  first  piece  of 
real  white  water,  although  it  isn't  very  bad. 

"As  I  figure  it,  then,  Mr.  Rob,"  continued 
Alex,  "we  ought  to  have  rather  better  water 
below  here  for  a  little  while.  What  does 
your  map  say  about  that?" 

126 


LESSONS  IN  WILD  LIFE 

"Well,"  answered  Rob,  "it's  pretty  hard 
to  tell  exactly,  but  taking  the  stories  of  Fraser 
and  Mackenzie  together,  we  ought  to  be  here 
about  one  hundred  and  fifty  miles  above  the 
mouth  of  the  Finlay.  By  to-morrow  night, 
if  we  hurry,  we  ought  to  be  at  or  below  the 
McLeod  Lake  outlet.  Dr.  Macoun  says  in 
his  government  report  that  it  is  easy  running 
in  the  late  season  from  McLeod  to  the  Finlay, 
about  eighty  miles;  and  I  saw  a  letter  once 
from  Mr.  Hussey,  a  friend  of  Uncle  Dick's, 
who  made  this  trip  latefy,  and  he  said  there 
was  not  much  bad  water  between  the  lake  and 
the  mouth  of  the  Finlay.  Below  there — 
look  out,  that's  all! 

"It  took  the  Mackenzie  party  six  or  eight 
days'  plugging  to  get  from  there  up  to  the 
carrying  place,"  he  added,  "but  we're  going 
downhill  instead  of  uphill.  I  should  think 
we  would  have  alternate  stretches  of  quiet 
water  here  and  there,  but  no  very  rough 
water  from  here  on  down  for  a  while.  With 
our  small  boats  we  probably  cannot  go  so 
fast  for  a  while  now  as  they  did  with  their 
big  canoes.  They  could  run  bang  through 
a   big   rapid   where   we'd  have  to  portage." 

"Well,"  said  Alex,  "I  suggest  that  we 
spend  the  rest  of  this  day  in  camp  here,  run 
the  two  canoes  through,  sleep  here  to-night, 

127 


THE  YOUNG  ALASKANS  ON  THE  TRAIL 

then  portage  below  the  rapids  to-morrow 
morning  and  make  a  straight  run  from  there 
down.  We  don't  want  to  take  too  many 
chances." 

"Thats  all  right,"  said  Rob,  "and  we'll 
help  you  pack  the  canoes." 

The  men  did  not  put  very  heavy  loads  in 
the  canoes,  but  they  took  the  sheep  heads, 
and  most  of  the  heavier  camp  supplies,  putting 
about  half  of  these  each  in  the  Mary  Ann  and 
the  Jaybird,  themselves  taking  the  Mary 
Ann  for  their  first  trip  through  the  rapids. 

While  they  were  busy  finishing  their  load- 
ing the  boys  ran  on  down  around  the  bend 
and  got  ready  to  see  the  first  canoe  take  the 
rapids.  When  Jesse  got  fully  within  the 
sound  and  sight  of  the  rolling,  noisy  water 
which  now  lay  before  them,  he  was  very  pale. 

"What  would  we  do,  Rob,"  asked  he,  "if 
the  boat  should  be  lost  out  there — we  couldn't 
ever  get  out  of  here  alive." 

"  I  don't  think  there  is  that  much  danger, 
Jess,"  answered  Rob.  "But  if  there  should 
be  an  accident,  we  have  one  boat  left,  and 
we'd  not  try  to  run  her  through.  We'd 
let  her  down  the  edge  of  the  rapids  on  a  rope 
the  best  we  could,  a  little  at  a  time.  That's 
what  Alex  would  do  now  if  he  thought  there 
was  any  real  danger." 

128 


LESSONS  IN  WILD  LIFE 

"Here  they  come!"  shouted  John.  All 
three  boys  scrambled  up  on  a  high,  jutting 
rock,  where  they  could  see  the  course  of  the 
boat. 

The  Mary  Ann  swept  around  the  curve 
gently  and  steadily,  caught  in  the  rapid 
down-set  of  the  current.  Moise  was  in  the 
bow,  Alex  at  the  stern  paddle,  and  both  the 
men  looked  steadily  ahead  and  not  at  either 
side.  They  saw  the  boat  seemed  to  tip  down 
at  a  sharp  angle,  but  still  go  on  steadily. 
Alex  was  following  the  long  V  which  ran  down 
in  the  mid-channel  stream,  on  either  side 
of  which  were  heavy  rocks  and  sharp,  abrupt 
falls  in  the  water.  At  the  foot  of  this  smooth 
strip  they  saw  the  bow  of  the  boat  shoot  up 
into  the  air,  then  drop  down  to  a  more 
even  keel.  From  that  time  on  the  Mary  Ann 
was  swept  down  swiftly,  jumping  up  and 
down,  part  of  the  time  almost  hidden  out  of 
sight,  and,  as  they  thought,  swamped  in  the 
heavy  seas.  To  their  delight,  however,  they 
saw  the  little  craft  emerge  at  the  foot  of  the 
white  water  after  a  while  and,  taking  advan- 
tage of  the  back  current,  swing  gently  along- 
side and  up  the  shore  toward  where  they  stood 
at  the  foot  of  the  main  cascade.  Both  the 
men  were  smiling  at  their  excitement. 

"Well,  what  do  you  thnk  about  that?" 
129 


THE  YOUNG  ALASKANS  ON  THE  TRAIL 

asked  John,  in  wonder.     "I  was  sure  they 
were  gone,  but  they  don't  seem  to  care  at  all." 

On  the  contrary,  Moise  seemed  to  be  very 
much  pleased  with  the  experience.  Alex  was 
smoking  quietly.  Neither  said  much  when 
finally  they  came  ashore  close  where  the 
boys  stood. 

"That  was  great  work,"  said  Rob.  "It 
was  beautiful!" 

"These  boat  she'll  not  tip  over,"  said 
Moise  calmly.  "She's  good  boat.  I  s'pose 
could  carry  through  maybe  a  hondred  ton 
or  so!" 

"  Well,  maybe  not  that  much!"  smiled  Alex, 
"  but  we've  proved  that  the  channel  out  there 
is  practicable.  We'll  go  up  now  and  bring 
down  the  other  boat.  First  we'll  put  this 
one  high  up  on  the  bank,  so  that  no  rise  in  the 
stream  can  take  it  away,  because  we're  apt  to 
need  these  boats  before  we  get  through." 

Suiting  the  action  to  the  word,  the  two 
voyageurs  now  went  back  to  the  camp,  and 
presently  the  boys  once  more  saw  the  nodding 
and  dipping  little  craft  come  around  the 
bend.  The  Jaybird  came  through  with  quite 
as  good  fortune  as  had  the  Mary  Ann.  And 
soon  the  two  canoes,  lightly  loaded,  were 
lying  side  by  side  on  the  beach  below  the 
rolling  water. 

130 


LESSONS  IN  WILD   LIFE 

"That's  how  we'll  did  done  it!"  said  Moise. 
"  S'pose  water  will  be  bad,  go  where  he'll 
ain't  be  so  bad.  No  use  for  get  tip  over. 
S'pose  he'll  be  too  bad,  we'll  take,  a  rope  an' 
let  those  boat  down  little  bit  to  a  time." 

"  Well,"  said  John,  "we  don't  want  to  show 
the  white  feather,  but  I  suppose  it's  just  as 
well  that  you  should  take  the  boats  through 
a  bad  place,  and  not  trust  to  us — we  might 
get  rattled  in  the  wrong  place  out  there." 

"  Yes,"  said  Rob,  "  it's  better  to  be  too  care- 
ful than  not  careful  enough.  I  can  see  now 
what  the  boats  will  do,  however,  and  I  have 
more  confidence  than  I  have  had  at  any  time 
about  our  getting  through  the  journey  all  right. ' ' 

"I  can't  quite  figure  out,  Mr.  Rob,"  said 
Alex,  "just  where  we  are.  The  maps  don't 
seem  to  look  like  the  country,  or  the  country 
like  the  maps." 

"According  to  my  reckoning,"  Rob  an- 
swered, "we're  now  about  where  Mackenzie 
was  on  June  9th.  The  day  before  that — 
which  will  be  the  day  after  this  as  we  run 
down  the  stream — they  had  sight  of  a  high, 
white  mountain  in  the  evening,  off  to  the 
east,  and  there  were  mountains  and  valleys 
in  full  sight  to  the  south.  The  valley  was 
wide.  That  answers  pretty  closely  to  the 
description    of    this    country    here.     In    the 

131 


THE  YOUNG  ALASKANS  ON  THE  TRAIL 

morning  of  that  day — which  will  be  later 
on  in  the  day  for  us  as  we  go  down — they 
saw  a  high,  white  bank  on  the  east.  We 
haven't  passed  any  such  bank.  They  made 
seventeen  miles  of  this  water  coming  up. 
If  we  can  locate  that  white  bank,  we  ought  to 
strike  slacker  water  below  there  and  then 
faster  water  still  farther  below,  according  to 
their  story.  On  June  6th  the  water  was  so 
high  and  heavy  that  they  had  to  pull  up  by 
the  branches  of  trees,  because  they  couldn't 
paddle  or  pole  or  track.  As  they  were  three 
days  in  making  something  like  thirty  miles, 
we  ought  to  expect  pretty  fast  work  the  next 
day  or  so  below  here.  But  of  course  they 
had  high  water,  and  we  haven't." 

"That  seems  to  me  good  reasoning,"  said 
Alex.  "We'll  take  it  slow  and  easy,  and  if 
we  hear  a  bad  rapid  we'll  go  ashore  and  look 
it  out  first  before  we  run  it.  Not  that  I  know 
even  now  just  where  that  stream  comes  in 
from   McLeod." 

"We  could  find  out  by  exploring,"  said 
Rob,  "but  I  don't  think  we  need  do  that. 
Let's  go  through  on  our  own  as  much  as  we 
can.  We  want  to  stop  when  we  get  down 
into  some  good  bear  country  anyhow — as 
soon  as  Moise  and  John  have  eaten  up  enough 
pork  to  make  room  in  the  boat!" 

132 


LESSONS  IN  WILD  LIFE 

"They're  making  such  a  hole  in  the  bacon 
now,"  said  Alex,  "that  I'm  afraid  we'll  have 
to  stop  and  hunt  somewhere  to-morrow." 

"That'll  suit  us  all  right,"  boasted  John. 
"Rob  and  I  will  stroll  out  and  kill  you  almost 
anything  you  want  to-morrow  evening." 

They  all  returned  now  to  the  camp,  which 
had  been  left  on  the  bar  around  the  bend, 
and  passed  the  night  there. 

"We'll  have  to  be  good  voyageurs  from 
now  on,"  said  Alex,  when  they  turned  in  for 
the  night,  "and  that  means  getting  on  the 
trail  by  four  o'clock  in  the  morning." 


XII 

WILD    COUNTRY    AND    WILDERNESS    WAYS 

BY  daylight  of  the  following  morning  the 
boys  were  busy  breaking  camp  and 
getting  their  luggage  across  the  bend  to  the 
place  where  they  had  left  the  boats  below 
the  rapids.  They  found  no  very  bad  water 
for  some  little  distance,  although  occasionally 
there  were  stretches  with  steep  rocks  where 
the  water  rippled  along  very  noisily.  Again 
they  would  meet  wide  bends  where  the  paddles 
were  useful. 

They  still  were  in  a  wide  valley.  Far  to 
the  east  lay  the  main  range  of  the  Rockies, 
but  the  mountains  were  much  lower  than  they 
are  farther  to  the  south.  They  kept  a  sharp 
outlook  on  both  banks,  trying  to  find  some 
landmark  which  would  tell  them  where  they 
were,  and  at  last,  indeed,  they  found  a  high, 
white  bank  on  the  right-hand  side,  which 
they  supposed  to  have  been  the  one  mentioned 
in  the  Mackenzie  journal,  although  it  was 
not  exactly  where  Rob's  map  said  it  ought 

134 


WILD    COUNTRY    AND    WILDERNESS    WAYS 

to  be.  They  paused  at  this  place  for  their 
first  rest,  and  occupied  themselves  for  a  time 
figuring  out,  each  according  to  his  notion,  a 
map  of  the  country  on  ahead,  which  all  ad- 
mitted now  was  entirely  strange  to  them. 

Alex  and  Moise  agreed  pretty  closely  in 
their  description  of  the  country  below  the 
Finlay,  for  they  had  friends  who  had  made 
that  trip  numbers  of  times.  As  to  the  coun- 
try between  this  place  and  the  mouth  of  the 
Finlay,  Rob  seemed  to  be  deferred  to  more 
than  any  one  else,  because  he  had  read  care- 
fully and  mapped  out  the  country  in  accord- 
ance with  the  Fraser  and  Mackenzie  journals 
and  such  narratives  of  later  travelers  as  he 
could  find,  surveyors,  traders,  and  pros- 
pectors. 

"Now,"  said  he  presently,  "if  we  should 
run  down  two  or  three  hours  farther  we'd 
make  say  fifteen  miles,  and  that  ought  to 
bring  us  about  to  the  spot  where  Mackenzie 
climbed  the  tree  to  look  out  over  the  country. 
As  near  as  I  can  get  at  it,  that  was  pretty 
near  the  real  divide  between  the  eastern  and 
western  waters — that  is  to  say,  not  far  from 
where  the  small  stream  leads  back  to  McLeod 
Lake,  and  the  McLeod  Lake  portage  across 
to  the  Fraser,  the  way  the  fur-traders  went 
later  on.     That's  the  Giscombe  portage  route. 

10  135 


THE  YOUNG  ALASKANS  ON  THE  TRAIL 

It's  a  lot  easier  than  the  one  we've  taken, 
too." 

11  Well,  I  don't  see  how  they  ever  got  boats 
up  this  way  at  all,"  said  Jesse,  looking  with 
wonder  at  the  swiftly  moving  current  which 
passed  at  their  feet. 

"And  just  to  think,"  said  John,  "they 
didn't  know  where  they  were  at  all,  even  as 
much  as  we  do  now;  and  we're  pretty  much 
lost,  if  it  comes  to  that." 

"Mackenzie,  she'll  been  good  man,"  said 
Moise.  "Maybe  so  most  as  good  man  like 
my  wife  hees  onkle,  Pete  Fraser." 

"Well,"  said  Alex,  "we  can  drop  down  a 
way  farther  and  if  we  don't  meet  bad  water 
we'll  get  into  camp  early." 

" '  Drop  down '  just  about  describes  it,"  said 
Rob.  "It's  like  sliding  downhill  on  a  sled, 
almost,  isn't  it?  I'll  know  more  about  the 
making  of  a  big  river  than  I  ever  did  before." 

None  the  less  the  boys,  who  had  gained 
confidence  with  every  hour  in  the  care  of 
these  skilled  boatmen,  felt  less  and  less  fear 
as  they  passed  on  down  the  sometimes  tum- 
bling and  roaring  stream  which  now  lay  before 
them.  The  water  was  not  really  dangerous  for 
some  distance  now,  and  only  in  two  instances 
did  Alex  go  ashore  and  line  the  boats  down  at 
the  edge  of  rapids,  although  time  and  again 

136 


WILD    COUNTRY    AND    WILDERNESS    WAYS 

he  cautioned  Moise,  who  was  something  of  a 
daredevil  in  the  canoe,  not  to  undertake  any 
run  which  looked  in  the  least  bad.  Moise  and 
Rob,  of  course,  retained  their  position  in  the 
lead  boat,  the  Mary  Ann. 

"I  believe  I'll  get  the  hang  of  it  after  a 
while,"  said  Rob,  as  they  paused  at  the  head 
of  a  rapid  lying  ahead  of  the  two  canoes. 
"The  main  thing  is  to  map  out  your  course 
before  you  go  through,  and  then  hang  to  it. 
You  can't  take  any  too  sudden  turns,  and 
you  have  to  be  careful  not  to  strike  on  a  rock 
— that's  the  most  dangerous  thing,  after  all, 
except  the  big  swells  at  the  foot  of  a  fast  drop. ' ' 

Sometimes,  when  the  shore  was  strewn  with 
rocks  alongside  a  rapid  which  interrupted  the 
passing  down  of  the  boats,  all  of  the  party 
would  be  as  much  in  the  water  as  out,  wading, 
shoving  and  pulling  at  the  boats.  They  were 
pretty  well  chilled  when,  well  on  into  the 
afternoon,  Alex  signified  that  it  was  time  to 
make  camp  for  the  day. 

"Better  get  out  dry  socks  and  moccasins, 
young  gentlemen,"  said  he.  "You're  not 
quite  as  tough  as  Moise  yonder." 

Moise,  happy  and  care-free,  had  not  as  yet 
started  to  make  a  fire,  but  was  sitting  on  a 
rock  playing  earnestly  at  a  jews '-harp  which 
he  carried  in  his  pocket. 

137 


THE  YOUNG  ALASKANS  ON  THE  TRAIL 

Jesse,  idly  prowling  around  in  the  "possible 
bag"  in  which  Moise  carried  his  personal  be- 
longings, tipped  out  on  the  ground  what 
looked  to  be  a  small  chopping-bowl,  or  wooden 
dish.  "What's  that,  Moise?"  said  he,  "and 
what  are  all  these  sticks  tied  up  in  a  bundle 
here?" 

"I  suppose  you'll  not  know  what's  those," 
said  Moise. 

Jesse  shook  his  head. 

"That's  what  Injun  calls  his  game,"  said 
Moise,  laughing. 

"His  game — what's  that?" 

"Those  game  she'll  been  call  platter 
game.  All  time  in  winter  Injun  will  play 
those  game  in  hees  house — he'll  play  it  here 
hondred  year,  two  hondred  year,  I  s'pose 
maybe." 

"I  know!"  broke  in  Rob,  eagerly.  "Mac- 
kenzie tells  about  that  very  thing.  He  says 
that  two  of  his  Indians  got  to  fighting  over  a 
game  of  platter  at  the  fort  down  below  here. 
I  wonder  if  that's  the  same  thing!" 

"It  is,"  said  Alex,  "precisely  the  same. 
The  Crees  all  play  this,  although  so  far  as  I 
know  it  isn't  known  east  of  Lake  Superior. 
Show  him  how  to  play,  Moise." 

Moise  now  spread  down  one  of  the  blankets 
on  the  ground  and  took  his  seat  cross-legged 

138 


WILD    COUNTRY    AND    WILDERNESS   WAYS 

at  the  side  of  it,  motioning  to  the  boys  to  sit 
opposite.  He  now  untied  the  greasy  rag 
which  wrapped  up  the  bundle  of  sticks,  and 
produced  from  it  eight  little  pieces  of  copper, 
disks,  red  on  one  side  and  tinned  or  gal- 
vanized on  the  other.  These  he  put  in  the 
pan  or  platter,  and  shaking  them  together, 
tossed  them  into  the  air,  catching  them  again 
in  the  bowl,  which  he  thumped  on  the  blanket 
just  as  they  fell. 

"S'pose  four  white  an'  four  red'll  come 
out,"  said  he,  "an'  I'm  play'  with  Alex. 
He'll  give  me  eight  stick  now,  for  I'll  win. 
So.     Try  heem  again." 

This  time  the  little  disks  fell  irregularly, 
and  Moise  expressed  his  disgust. 

"Five  one  kin',  three  other  kin';  no  good!" 
said  he.  "She'll  have  to  come  up  two,  four, 
seex,  eight — the  hard  way  for  heem  to  come  is 
all  tarn  the  way  he'll  win.  You  see?"  he 
continued  on  shaking  and  thumping  the  bowl 
and  catching  the  little  disks,  and  as  he  won  or 
lost,  Alex  gravely  handed  him  the  little  sticks, 
or  counters,  or  received  them  back  from  him 
as  the  case  might  be. 

This  ancient  gambling  device  of  the  In- 
dians was  very  simple  and  the  game  was  soon 
learned,  but  the  knack  of  catching  the  disks 
in    the    pan    proved    quite    difficult.     John 

139 


THE  YOUNG  ALASKANS  ON  THE  TRAIL 

undertook  it,  with  the  result  that  he  spilled 
every  one  of  them  out  when  they  fell  in  the 
shallow  bowl,  much  to  the  amusement  of  Moise. 

"You'll  not  been  Injun,"  said  Moise.  "If 
any  of  those  pieces  he'll  fly  out  of  pan,  then 
you  have  to  give  up  the  pan  to  the  next 
man.  You'll  make  a  loss  that  tarn.  All  time 
Injun  he'll  play  those  platter  game  in  the 
house  at  night, ' '  continued  Moise.  "  Two,  four 
man,  she'll  sit  on  blanket  an'  play  many 
hour.  His  woman  she'll  cook  meat  on  the 
fire.  Another  man  he'll  sit  an'poun'  the  drum. 
You'll  see  my  drum,  I  s'pose." 

He  now  fished  out  from  under  his  bed  one 
of  the  singular  Cree  drums,  a  shallow,  one- 
sided circle  of  bent  wood  covered  with  tightly 
stretched  moose  skin.  He  showed  them  how 
the  Indian  drummer  held  this,  straining  it 
tight  with  thongs  stretched  from  finger  to 
thumb,  and  making  the  music  by  drumming 
with  the  fingers  of  the  other  hand. 

"Injun  he'll  use  those  drum  sometime  to 
pass  time,"  said  Moise.  "Sometime  he'll 
use  heem  for  pray.  S'pose  I '11  want  ver'  much 
for  get  moose — I'll  play  on  heem  an'  seeng. 
S'pose  I  want  for  get  grizzly  ver'  much — 
then  I  seeng  ver'  hard  for  get  grizzly.  S'pose 
you'll  seeng  an'  play,  always  you'll  get  those 
game,   sure." 

140 


WILD    COUNTRY    AND    WILDERNESS    WAYS 

"  I  don't  see  what  we'd  do  without  you, 
Moise,"  said  John,  who  was  continually 
rummaging  around  in  Moise 's  ditty-bag.  "  For 
instance,  what's  this  funny-looking  knife  you 
have  here?" 

11  That's  worth  noticing,"  said  Alex.  "  You 
young  gentlemen  ought  to  get  you  one  of  those 
knives  each  before  you  leave  the  country. 
That's  what  we  call  a  crooked  knife — you  see, 
the  end  of  the  blade  is  turned  up." 

"How  do  you  use  that  sort  of  thing?" 
asked  John,   curiously. 

"As  any  native  Injun  always  uses  a  knife," 
rejoined  Alex.  "  You  see  how  the  handle  is 
put  on — well,  an  Injun  never  whittles  away 
from  him,  but  always  pulls  the  knife  toward 
him.  You'll  see,  too,  that  he  never  sharpens 
a  blade  on  both  sides,  but  puts  all  the  bevel 
on  one  side — look  at  my  big  hunting-knife 
here — it's  only  sharpened  on  one  side,  and 
the  other  is  perfectly  flat." 

"  Well,  what  makes  Indians  do  that  way?" 
asked  John,  wonderingly. 

"I  don't  know,"  said  Alex,  "except  that 
they  always  have  done  so.  You  see,  they  use 
files  rather  than  whetstones  to  sharpen  their 
tools.  Maybe  they  find  it  easier  to  put  on  an 
edge  in  this  way.  Anyhow,  if  an  Injun  is 
making  a  canoe  or  a  pair  of  snowshoes,   or 

i-ii 


THE  YOUNG  ALASKANS  ON  THE  TRAIL 

doing  any  other  whittling  work,  you  will  see 
him  use  one  of  these  crooked  knives,  and  he'll 
always  whittle  toward  him,  with  his  thumb 
out  at  the  end  of  the  handle.  I  don't  know 
who  first  invented  these  crooked  knives," 
continued  Alex,  musingly,  "but  they've  al- 
ways been  that  way  since  my  father  can 
remember.  As  to  this  big  buffalo  knife,  I 
suppose  the  Northwest  Company  or  the  Hud- 
son Bay  people  invented  that.  They've 
been  selling  them  in  the  trade  for  a  hundred 
and  fifty  years  or  so." 

"  I  suppose  each  country  has  its  own  tools 
and  its  own  ways,"  ventured  Rob. 

"Precisely." 

"I've  been  told,"  Rob  went  on,  "that 
that's  the  way  the  Chinese  use  a  knife  or  a 
saw — they  pull  it  to  them  instead  of  pushing 
it   away." 

"Well,"  said  Alex,  smiling,  "some  people 
say  that  all  of  us  Injuns  came  across  the 
narrow  salt  water  far  to  the  northwest.  You 
know,  too,  don't  you,  that  the  Crees  call 
themselves  the  First  People?" 

"They  certainly  were  first  in  here,"  as- 
sented Rob;  "and,  as  we've  said  before,  it's 
hardly  fair  to  call  any  white  man  a  real  dis- 
coverer— all  this  country  was  known  long  be- 
fore a  white  man  ever  set  foot  in  it." 

142 


XIII 

THE    CARIBOU    HUNT 

THE  supply  of  mountain  mutton  had 
lessened  with  alarming  rapidity  in  this 
open-air  work,  which  tends  to  give  any  man 
or  boy  a  strong  appetite.  Moise  looked 
rather  ruefully  at  the  few  pieces  which  he  still 
had  hanging  on  his  meat  line  near  the  camp. 

"I'll  tol'  you  this  sheep  she's  getting  mighty 
scarce  now  pretty  soon  before  long,"  said  he. 

"  Why  not  make  a  hunt,  Alex  ?"  asked  Rob. 
"  It  looks  like  fairly  good  country,  and  you 
might  be  able  to  get  something." 

"We  might  get  a  bear,"  said  Alex,  "or 
possibly  a  moose.  For  all  I  know,  the  buffalo 
used  to  come  this  far  back  in  from  the  east. 
It  doesn't  look  like  sheep  country  just  in 
here,  however,  because  we  have  to  go  too 
far  to  get  to  the  mountains." 

"How   about    caribou?" 

Alex  shook  his  head.  "  You  mustn't  ask 
me,"  said  he.  "This  isn't  my  country,  and 
I've  never  been  here  before,   nor  seen  any 

143 


THE   YOUNG  ALASKANS   ON  THE  TRAIL 

man  who  has  been  here.     I  know  there  are 
caribou  in  British  Columbia,  far  to  the  north." 

"Mackenzie  talks  about  seeing  reindeer  in 
here." 

"  Yes,  I  suppose  he  meant  the  black-faced 
caribou  of  the  mountains,  and  not  the  regular 
barren-ground  animal  which  goes  in  the  big 
herds.  It's  odd,  but  those  early  men  didn't 
seem  to  know  all  the  animals  on  which  they 
depended  so  much.  Without  doubt  Mac- 
kenzie called  the  musk-ox  some  sort  of  buffa- 
lo, and  he  called  these  mountain  caribou  the 
reindeer.  But  we  might  get  one  for  all  of 
that.  How  would  you  like  to  go  with  me  across 
the  river,  Mr.  Rob,  and  make  a  little  hunt?" 

"  Fine !"  assented  Rob,  eagerly.  "  But  how 
about  the  others?" 

"I'll  tell  you,  Rob,"  said  John,  who,  to  tell 
the  truth,  was  just  a  little  tired  from  the  hard 
work  of  the  day  before;  "you  and  Alex  go 
across,  and  after  a  while  Moise  will  take  Jess 
and  me  out  on  this  side  a  little  way  back. 
We'll  all  meet  here  this  evening." 

This  plan  was  agreed  to,  and  in  the  course  of 
a  few  moments  Alex  and  Rob  were  pushing 
across  the  river  in  the  Mary  Ann,  equipped 
lightly  for  their  first  hunt  after  some  game 
which  Rob  was  eager  to  meet  because  it  was 
new  to  him. 

144 


THE   CARIBOU   HUNT 

Once  more  they  pushed  through  heavy 
undergrowth  close  to  the  river,  traveled  up  a 
rather  lofty  bank,  and  found  themselves  in 
flatter  country,  beyond  which  at  some  dis- 
tance rose  some  mountains 

"I'll  bet  you,"  said  Rob,  "that  this  is  just 
about  where  Mackenzie  climbed  the  tree  to 
look  around — you  can't  see  much  from  the 
river  down  there,  and  his  men  were  complain- 
ing about  the  hard  work,  and  he  didn't  know 
where  he  was.  So  he  climbed  a  tree  to  have 
a  look." 

"Well,  Mr.  Rob,"  said  Alex,  "if  you  don't 
mind,  I'll  let  you  do  the  climbing,  while  I  sit 
here  and  smoke.  I'm  not  quite  as  light  as 
I  once  was." 

"All  right,"  said  Rob.  And,  divesting 
himself  of  his  cartridge-belt  and  jacket,  a 
little  later  he  began  to  make  his  way  up  to  the 
topmost  branches  of  the  tall  spruce,  breaking 
off  the  dead  limbs  as  he  slowly  advanced 
upward. 

Rob  remained  aloft  for  some  moments, 
but  at  last  descended  and  rejoined  Alex. 

"Now,  what  did  you  see,  Mr.  Rob?"  in- 
quired the  old  hunter. 

"  Well,  I  don't  know,"  said  Rob;  "  it's  hard 
to  figure  out  exactly,  of  course.  But  Macken- 
zie talks  about  high  mountains  off  to  the  north- 

145 


THE  YOUNG  ALASKANS  ON  THE  TRAIL 

west,  and  a  parallel  range  of  mountains  run- 
ning to  the  south,  with  a  narrow  valley  be- 
tween. That,  of  course,  must  be  this  river, 
and  as  near  as  I  can  tell,  it  must  have  been 
about  here  that  he  and  Mackay  and  the 
Indian  hunters  took  to  the  shore  to  spy  out 
the  way." 

''And  jolly  well  got  lost,  too,  eh?" 

"They  certainly  did — got  lost  from  their 
boat  for  an  entire  day!  I  can  imagine  how 
they  felt  when  they  didn't  know  whether  the 
boat  was  above  them  or  below  them.  Mac- 
kenzie says  the  mosquitoes  about  ate  them  up.' 
They  sent  branches  down  the  river  to  let  the 
boatmen  know  they  were  above  them.  It 
wasn't  until  night  that  finally  they  found  the 
boat  was  far  below  them.  I'll  warrant  they 
were  glad  when  they  got  together  again. 
The  truth  is,  the  men  were  almost  ready  to 
turn  back  and  leave  Mackenzie  where  he  was. 

"  They'd  have  done  that  a  dozen  times  but 
for  his  courage,"  said  Alex.  "Well,  now, 
what  would  you  do,  Mr.  Rob,  if  you  should 
get  lost  in  the  woods  or  mountains  any  time  ?" 

"I'd  try  to  keep  cool,"  said  Rob,  "but  I'm 
not  sure  that  I  could.  It's  a  mighty  bad 
feeling — I  know  what  it  is  myself.  What 
would  you  do,  Alex,  if  you  ever  got  lost  in  a 
storm,  or  anything  of  that  kind?" 

146 


THE   CARIBOU  HUNT 

"Sit  down  and  build  a  fire,"  answered 
Alex.  "Go  to  sleep,  take  it  easy,  and  wait 
till  my  mind  got  cool.  Then  when  you're 
rested  and  all  ready  to  go  on,  you  nearly 
always  know  which  is  the  right  direction. 
You  see,  an  Injun  is  a  good  deal  like  a  dog,  as 
Moise  would  say.  But  now  suppose  I  should 
get  separated  from  you  in  here — how  would 
you  get  back  to  camp  ?" 

"Well,  you  see,"  said  Rob,  "there  is  that 
high  mountain  on  this  side  of  the  river,  and 
there  is  one  right  opposite,  far  off  on  the  east 
side.  I  know  our  camp  is  on  the  line  between 
those  two  peaks.  Of  course  I'd  know  the 
river  was  downhill,  unless  I  wandered  off  over 
some  other  little  divide.  I'd  just  simply  go 
downhill  as  straight  as  I  could  until  I  hit 
the  river.  Of  course  I  couldn't  tell,  maybe, 
whether  I  was  just  above  or  below  the  camp. 
But  I'd  wait  to  see  smoke,  and  I'd  fire  off  my 
rifle,  hoping  that  some  one  would  hear  me. 
Then  I  think  I  would  not  go  very  far  from 
that  place.  I'd  sit  down  and  build  a  smoke, 
and  wait." 

"That  would  be  the  best  way  to  do,"  Alex 
assented.  "But  do  you  know,  simple  as  that 
seems,  lots  of  grown  men  couldn't  do  it — 
they'd  lose  their  heads  and  be  just  as  apt 
to  go  west  as  east !     Many  a  man  has  been  lost 

147 


THE  YOUNG  ALASKANS  ON  THE  TRAIL 

in  the  wilderness  simply  because  he  got  excited 
and  scared  and  didn't  take  it  easy.  Always 
remember  that  whenever  you  are  in  a  wild 
country  it  isn't  as  dangerous  as  it  seems  to  be. 

"  But  come,  now,"  he  resumed,  "  I  suppose 
we  must  get  over  in  that  flat  country  and  see 
if  we  can  find  any  sign  of  game." 

"  How  do  you  hunt  caribou,  Alex  ?  I  don't 
know  anything  about  it." 

"That's  hard  to  answer,"  rejoined  the  old 
hunter.  "Of  course  you  can  take  a  trail  if 
you  can  find  it,  and  if  it  seems  fresh.  An 
Injun  hunts  moose  by  following  the  trail. 
But  either  a  moose  or  a  caribou  has  very  keen 
scent,  and  if  you  follow  straight  on  after  them, 
and  don't  circle  once  in  a  while  and  pick  up 
the  trail  again,  you're  not  apt  to  come  up 
with  either  one  or  the  other.  A  caribou, 
however,  is  a  strange  animal — it  isn't  nearly 
as  wild  as  a  moose  or  a  bighorn.  A  grizzly 
bear  has  very  keen  scent  but  very  bad  eyes, 
and  I  don't  suppose  a  grizzly  can  see  you  half 
a  mile  at  best.  Now,  a  caribou  has  good 
eyes,  ears,  and  nose,  but  he  hasn't  got  any 
head.  Sometimes  he  is  very  shy,  and  some- 
times he'll  stand  and  look  at  you,  and  let  you 
keep  on  shooting.  He  seems  to  be  full  of 
curiosity,   and  wants  to   know  what  you're 

doing. 

148 


THE   CARIBOU  HUNT 

"We'll  work  on  over  a  little  at  a  time," 
he  continued,  "and  maybe  if  we  skirt  around 
some  open  meadows  or  glades  we  may  see 
some  tracks.  Sometimes  they  come  out  in 
places  like  that  to  feed  or  stand  around.  A 
water-hole  or  little  lake,  too,  is  good  for  game 
usually.  When  an  Injun  knows  he's  in  a 
country  where  game  is  moving  or  feeding  he 
keeps  pretty  quiet  and  lets  the  game  come  to 
him  rather  than  going  to  it." 

The  theories  laid  down  by  the  old  hunter 
seemed  soon  to  work  out  fairly  well,  because 
they  had  not  gone  up  more  than  a  mile  farther 
until  they  got  into  a  country  which  showed 
considerable  sign  of  moose  and  caribou,  the 
latter  in  rather  a  fresh  trail.  As  this  led  them 
to  a  sort  of  open,  grassy  glade,  where  other 
sign  was  abundant,  Alex  paused  for  a  time  in 
the  hope  that  something  might  show  from  the 
heavy  cover  in  which  they  had  been  traveling. 

At  last  he  quietly  laid  a  hand  on  Rob's  arm, 
and  without  making  any  sudden  movement, 
pointed  across  the  glade,  which  at  that  place 
was  several  hundred  yards  wide. 

"Oh,  I  see  them!"  said  Rob,  in  an  excited 
whisper.  "What  funny-looking  things  they 
are — five  of  them!" 

"Two  stags,  three  cows,"  said  Alex,  quietly. 
"Too  far  to  shoot.     Wait  awhile." 

149 


THE  YOUNG  ALASKANS  ON  THE  TRAIL 

They  drew  back  now  into  the  cover  of  the 
surrounding  valleys,  where  it  is  true  the 
mosquitoes  annoyed  them  unspeakably,  but 
where  they  remained  with  such  patience  as 
they  could  possess.  The  caribou  seemed  to 
be  slowly  feeding  out  from  the  opposite  edge  of 
the  forest,  but  they  were  very  deliberate  and 
uncertain  in  their  progress.  The  two  watched 
them  for  the  best  part  of  half  an  hour. 

"Too  bad!"  said  Alex,  at  last,  as  he  peered 
out  from  behind  the  tree  which  shielded  them. 
"Four  hundred  yards  at  best." 

Rob  also  ventured  a  look  at  this  time. 

"Why,  there's  only  three,"  said  he. 

"Yes,  the  two  stags  went  back  into  the 
woods." 

"But  we  can't  kill  the  cows,"  said  Rob, 
decisively. 

"Why  not?     They're  just  as  good  to  eat." 

"Maybe  better,"  said  Rob,  "I  don't  doubt 
that.  A  young,  fat  cow  is  better  meat  than 
an  old  bull  any  time,  of  course.  But  Uncle 
Dick  said  we  mustn't  waste  anything,  and 
mustn't  kill  anything  except  what  had  horns 
in  this  kind  of  game." 

"Well,"  said  Alex,  "I  don't  much  feel  like 
going  back  to  camp  without  any  meat." 

"Nor  I.  Let's  wait  here  awhile  and  may- 
be the  stag  '11  come  out  again." 

150 


THE  CARIBOU  HUNT 

This  indeed  proved  to  be  the  case,  for  in  a 
few  minutes  the  smaller  stag  did  show  at  the 
edge  of  the  wood,  offering  a  dim  and  very 
uncertain  mark  at  a  distance  of  several  hun- 
dred yards.     Rob  began  to  prepare  his  rifle. 

''It's  too  far,"  said  Alex.  "No  Injun 
would  think  of  shooting  that  far.  You  might 
only  cripple." 

"Yes,"  said  Rob,  "and  I  might  only  miss. 
But  I'd  rather  do  that  than  shoot  at  one  of 
the  cows.  I  believe  I'll  take  a  chance  any- 
how, Alex." 

Adjusting  his  rifle-sights  to  the  best  of  his 
knowledge,  Rob  took  long  and  careful  aim, 
and  fired  at  the  shoulder  of  the  distant  caribou, 
which  showed  but  indistinctly  along  his  rifle- 
sights.  The  shot  may  have  come  somewhere 
close  to  the  animal,  but  certainly  did  not  strike 
it,  for  with  a  sudden  whirl  it  was  off,  and  in  the 
next  instant  was  hidden  by  the  protecting 
woods. 

Now,  there  was  instanced  the  truth  of 
what  Alex  had  said  about  the  fickleness  of 
caribou  nature.  The  three  cows,  one  old 
and  two  young  ones,  stood  in  full  view  in  the 
open,  at  about  half  the  distance  of  the  stag. 
They  plainly  saw  both  Alex  and  Rob  as  they 
now  stepped  out  from  their  cover.  Yet  in- 
stead of  wheeling  and  running,  the  older  cow, 

11  151 


THE  YOUNG  ALASKANS  ON  THE  TRAIL 

her  ears  standing  out  high  and  wide,  began 
to  trot  steadily  toward  them  instead  of  run- 
ning away.  Rob  once  more  raised  his  rifle, 
but  this  time  not  to  shoot  at  game,  but  only 
to  make  an  experiment.  He  fired  once,  twice, 
and  three  times  in  the  air ;  and  even  up  to  the 
time  of  the  last  shot,  the  old  cow  trotted 
steadily  toward  him,  not  stopping  until  she 
was  within  fifty  yards  of  him.  Here  she 
stood  staring  wide-eyed,  but  at  length,  having 
figured  out  something  in  her  own  mind,  she 
suddenly  wheeled  and  lumbered  off  again, 
her  heavy,  coarse  muzzle  straight  ahead  of 
her.  All  three  now  shambled  off  and  soon 
were  lost  to  view. 

"Well,  what  do  you  think  about  that, 
Alex  ?"  demanded  Rob.  "  That's  the  funniest 
thing  I  ever  saw  in  all  my  hunting.  Those 
things  must  he  crazy." 

"I  suppose  they  think  we  are,"  replied 
Alex,  glumly;  "maybe  we  are,  or  we'd  have 
taken  a  shot  at  her.  I  can  almost  taste  that 
tenderloin!" 

"  I'm  sorry  about  it,  Alex,"  said  Rob,  "but 
maybe  some  of  the  others  will  get  some  meat. 
I  really  don't  like  to  shoot  females,  because 
game  isn't  as  plentiful  now  as  it  used  to  be, 
you  know,  even  in  the  wild  country." 

Alex  sighed,  and  rather  unhappily  turned 
152 


THE   CARIBOU  HUNT 

and  led  the  way  back  toward  the  river.  "It's 
too  late  to  hunt  anything  more,"  said  he, 
"and  we  might  not  find  anything  that  just 
suited   us  " 

When  at  length  they  reached  camp,  after 
again  crossing  the  river  in  the  Mary  Ann, 
twilight  was  beginning  to  fall.  Rob  did  not 
notice  any  difference  in  the  camp,  although 
the  keen  eyes  of  Alex  detected  a  grayish 
object  hanging  on  the  cut  limb  of  the  tree  at 
the  edge  of  the  near-by  thicket.  John  and 
Jesse  pretended  not  to  know  anything,  and 
Alex  and  Rob,  to  be  equally  dignified,  volun- 
teered no  information  and  asked  no  questions. 

All  the  boys  had  noticed  that  old  hunters, 
especially  Indian  hunters,  never  ask  one 
another  what  success  they  have  had,  and  never 
tell  anything  about  what  they  have  killed. 
Jesse,  however,  could  not  stand  this  sort  of 
thing  very  long,  and  at  length,  with  consider- 
able exultation,  asked  Rob  what  luck  he  had 
had.  Rob  rather  shamefacedly  admitted  the 
failure  which  he  and  Alex  had  made. 

"  We  did  better, ' '  said  Jesse ;   "we  got  one. ' ' 

"You  got  one?  Who  got  it?"  demanded 
Rob.     "Where  is  it?" 

"There's  a  ham  hanging  up  over  there  in 
the  brush,"  answered  Jesse.  "We  all  went 
out,  but  I  killed  him." 

J53 


THE  YOUNG  ALASKANS  ON  THE  TRAIL 

"Is  that  so,  John?"  asked  Rob. 

"It  certainly  is,"  said  John.  "Yes,  Jesse 
is  the  big  chief  to-night." 

"We  only  went  a  little  way,  too,"  said 
Jesse,  "just  up  over  the  ridge  there,  I  don't 
suppose  more  than  half  a  mile.  It  must 
have  been  about  noon  when  we  started,  and 
Moise  didn't  think  we  were  going  to  see  any- 
thing, and  neither  did  we.  So  we  sat  down, 
and  in  an  hour  or  so  I  was  shooting  at  a  mark 
to  see  how  my  rifle  would  do.  All  at  once  we 
saw  this  fellow — it  wasn't  a  very  big  one,  with 
little  bits  of  horns — come  out  and  stand 
around  looking  to  see  what  the  noise  was 
about.  So  I  just  took  a  rest  over  a  log,  and 
I  plugged  him!" 

Jesse  stood  up  straight,  his  thumbs  in  the 
armholes  of  his  waistcoat,  a  very  proud 
young  boy  indeed. 

Moise,  strolling  around,  was  grinning  happi- 
ly when  at  last  he  met  the  unsuccessful  hunters. 

"Those  Jesse  boy,  she'll  been  good  shot," 
said  he.  "  I  s'pose,  Alex,  you'll  not  make 
much  hunter  out  of  yourself,  keint" 

"Well,"  said  Alex,  "we  let  some  mighty 
good  cow  venison  get  away  from  us,  all  right." 

"Never  mind,"  said  Moise,  consolingly, 
"we'll  got  fat  young  caribou  now  plenty  for 
two — three  days,  maybe  so." 

i54 


THE  CARIBOU  HUNT 

Rob  went  up  to  Jesse  and  shook  him  by  the 
hand.  "Good  boy,  Jess!"  said  he.  "I'm 
glad  you  got  him  instead  of  myself.  But  why 
didn't  you  tell  us  when  we  came  into  camp  ?" 

"Moise  said  good  hunters  didn't  do  that," 
ventured  John,  who  joined  the  conversation. 
"How  about  that,  Alex?" 

"Well,"  said  the  older  hunter,  "you must 
remember  that  white  men  are  different  from 
Injuns.  People  who  live  as  Injuns  do  get  to 
be  rather  quiet.  Now,  suppose  an  Injun 
hunter  has  gone  out  after  a  moose,  and  has 
been  gone  maybe  two  or  three  days.  He'll 
probably  not  hunt  until  everything  is  gone  in 
the  lodge,  and  maybe  neither  he  nor  his 
family  is  going  to  eat  much  until  he  gets  a 
moose.  Well,  by  and  by  he  comes  home  some 
evening,  and  throws  aside  the  skin  door  of  the 
lodge,  and  goes  in  and  sits  down.  His  wife 
helps  him  off  with  his  moccasins  and  hands 
him  a  dry  pair,  and  makes  up  the  fire.  He 
sits  and  smokes.  No  one  asks  him  whether  he 
has  killed  or  not,  and  he  doesn't  say  whether 
he  has  killed,  although  they  all  may  be  very 
hungry.  Now,  his  wife  doesn't  know  whether 
to  get  ready  to  cook  or  not,  but  she  doesn't 
ask  her  man.  He  sits  there  awhile;  but,  of 
course,  he  likes  his  family  and  doesn't  want 
them  to  be  hungry.     So  after  a  while,  very 

i55 


THE  YOUNG  ALASKANS  ON  THE  TRAIL 

dignified,  he'll  make  some  excuse  so  that  his 
wife  can  tell  what  the  result  of  the  hunt  has 
been.  Maybe  he'll  say  carelessly  that  he  has 
a  little  blood  on  his  shirt,  which  ought  to  be 
washed  off,  or  maybe  he'll  say  that  if  any 
one  were  walking  a  couple  of  miles  down  the 
river  they  might  see  a  blazed  trail  out  toward 
the  hills.  Then  his  wife  will  smile  and  hurry 
to  put  on  the  kettles.  If  it  isn't  too  far,  she'll 
take  her  pack-strap  then  and  start  out  to 
bring  in  some  of  the  meat.  Every  people, 
you  see,  will  have  different  ways." 

"But  the  man  who  doesn't  kill  something 
goes  hungry,  and  his  family,  too?" 

"  Not  in  the  least !"  rejoined  Alex,  with  some 
spirit.  "There,  too,  the  'First  People'  are 
kinder  than  the  whites  who  govern  them  now. 
Suppose  in  my  village  there  are  twenty  lodges. 
Out  of  the  twenty  there  will  be  maybe  four  or 
five  good  hunters,  men  who  can  go  out  and  kill 
moose  or  bear.  It  gets  to  be  so  that  they  do 
most  of  the  hunting,  and  if  one  of  them  brings 
in  any  meat  all  the  village  will  have  meat. 
Of  course  the  good  hunters  don't  do  any  other 
kind  of  work  very  much." 

"That  isn't  the  way  white  people  do," 
asserted  John;  "they  don't  divide  up  in 
business  matters  unless  they  have  to." 

"  Maybe  not,"  said  Alex,  "  but  it  has  always 
156 


THE  CARIBOU  HUNT 

been  different  with  my  people  in  the  north. 
If  men  did  not  divide  meat  with  one  another 
many  people  would  starve.  As  it  is,  many 
starve  in  the  far-off  countries  each  winter. 
Sometimes  we  cannot  get  even  rabbits.  It 
may  be  far  to  the  trading-post.  The  moose 
or  the  caribou  may  be  many  miles  away,  where 
no  one  can  find  them.  A  heavy  storm  may 
come,  so  no  one  can  travel.  Then  if  a  man  is 
fortunate  and  has  meat  he  would  be  cruel  if 
he  did  not  divide.  He  knows  that  all  the 
others  would  do  as  much  with  him.  It  is  our 
custom." 


XIV 

EXPLORING   THE    WILDERNESS 

IF  Rob,  John,  and  Jesse  had  been  eager  for 
exciting  incidents  on  their  trip  across 
the  mountains,  certainly  they  found  them  in 
plenty  during  the  next  three  days  after  the 
caribou  hunt,  as  they  continued  their  passage 
on  down  the  mountain  river,  when  they  had 
brought  in  all  their  meat  and  once  more 
loaded  the  canoes. 

Rob  had  been  studying  his  maps  and  records, 
and  predicted  freely  that  below  this  camp  they 
would  find  wilder  waters.  This  certainly 
proved  to  be  the  case.  Moreover,  they  found 
that  although  it  is  easier  to  go  down-stream 
than  up  in  fast  water,  it  is  more  dangerous, 
and  sometimes  progress  is  not  so  rapid  as 
might  be  expected.  Indeed,  on  the  first  day 
below  the  caribou  camp  they  made  scarcely 
more  than  six  or  eight  miles,  for,  in  passing 
the  boats  down  along  shore  to  avoid  a  short 
piece  of  fast  water,  the  force  of  the  current 
broke  the  line  of  the  Mary  Ann,  and  it  was 

158 


EXPLORING  THE  WILDERNESS 

merely  by  good  fortune  that  they  caught  up 
with  her,  badly  jammed  and  wedged  between 
two  rocks,  her  gunwale  strip  broken  across 
and  the  cedar  shell  crushed  through,  so  that 
she  had  sprung  a  bad  leak. 

They  hauled  the  crippled  Mary  Ann  ashore 
and  discharged  her  cargo  in  order  to  examine 
the  injuries  received. 

11  Well,  now,  we're  giving  an  imitation  of  the 
early  voyageurs,"  said  John,  as  he  saw  the 
rent  in  the  side  of  the  canoe.  "But  how  are 
we  going  to  fix  her  ?  She  isn't  a  birch-bark, 
and  if  she  were,  we  have  no  bark." 

"I  think  we'll  manage,"  Rob  replied,  "be- 
cause we  have  canvas  and  cement  and  all 
that  sort  of  thing.  But  her  rail  is  broken 
quite  across." 

"She'll  been  good  boat,"  said  Moise,  smil- 
ing; "we'll  fix  heem  easy."  So  saying,  he 
took  his  ax  and  sauntered  over  to  a  half-dead 
cedar-tree,  from  which,  without  much  difficulty, 
he  cut  some  long  splints.  This  they  managed 
to  lash  inside  the  gunwale  of  the  canoe, 
stiffening  it  considerably.  The  rent  in  the 
bottom  they  patched  by  means  of  their  ce- 
ment, and  some  waterproof  material.  They 
finished  the  patch  with  abundant  spruce  gum 
and  tar,  melted  together  and  spread  all  over. 
When  they  were  done  their  labors  the  Mary 

i59 


THE  YOUNG  ALASKANS  ON  THE  TRAIL 

Ann  was  again  watertight,  but  not  in  the 
least  improved  in  beauty. 

"  We'll  have  to  be  very  careful  all  the  way 
down  from  here,  I'm  thinking,"  said  Alex. 
"  The  river  is  getting  far  more  powerful  almost 
every  hour  as  these  other  streams  come  in. 
Below  the  Finlay,  I  know  very  well,  she's  a  big 
stream,  and  the  shores  are  so  bad  that  if  we  had 
an  accident  it  would  leave  things  rather  awk- 
ward." 

None  the  less,  even  with  one  boat  crippled 
in  this  way,  Rob  and  John  gained  confidence 
in  running  fast  water  almost  every  hour. 
They  learned  how  to  keep  their  heads  when 
engaged  in  the  passage  of  white  water,  how 
to  avoid  hidden  rocks,  as  well  as  dangerous 
swells  and  eddies.  It  seemed  to  them  quite 
astonishing  what  rough  water  could  be  taken 
in  these  little  boats,  and  continually  the 
temptation  was,  of  course,  to  run  a  rapid 
rather  than  laboriously  to  disembark  and  line 
down  alongshore.  Thus,  to  make  their  story 
somewhat  shorter,  they  passed  on  down 
slowly  for  parts  of  three  days,  until  at  last, 
long  after  passing  the  mouth  of  the  Pack 
River  and  the  Nation,  and  yet  another  smaller 
stream,  all  coming  in  from  the  west,  they  saw 
opening  up  on  the  left  hand  a  wide  valley 
coming  down  from  the  northwest. 

1 60 


EXPLORING  THE  WILDERNESS 

The  character  of  the  country,  and  the  dis- 
tance they  had  traveled,  left  no  doubt  what- 
ever in  their  minds  that  this  was  the  Finlay 
River,  the  other  head-stream  of  the  Peace 
River.  They  therefore  now  felt  as  though 
they  knew  precisely  where  they  were.  Being 
tired,  they  pitched  their  camp  not  far  below 
the  mouth  of  the  Finlay,  and  busied  themselves 
in  looking  over  their  boats  and  supplies.  They 
knew  that  the  dreaded  Finlay  rapids  lay  only 
two  miles  below  them. 

They  were  now  passing  down  a  river  which 
had  grown  to  a  very  considerable  stream, 
sometimes  with  high  banks,  again  with  shores 
rather  low  and  marshy,  and  often  broken  with 
many  islands  scattered  across  an  expanse  of 
water  sometimes  nearly  a  quarter  of  a  mile  in 
extent.  The  last  forty  miles  of  the  stream 
to  the  junction  of  the  Finlay  had  averaged 
not  more  rapid  but  much  heavier  than  the 
current  had  seemed  toward  the  head-waters. 
The  roar  of  the  rapids  they  approached  now 
came  up-stream  with  a  heavier  note,  and  was 
distinguishable  at  much  greater  distances, 
and  the  boats  in  passing  through  some  of  the 
heavier  rapids  did  so  in  the  midst  of  a  din  quite 
different  from  the  gentle  babble  of  the  shallow 
st  reamf  ar  toward  its  source .  The  boom  of  the  bad 
water  far  below  this  camp  made  them  uneasy. 

161 


THE  YOUNG  ALASKANS  ON  THE  TRAIL 

"  Well,"  said  Rob,  as  they  sat  in  camp  near 
the  shore,  "  we  know  where  we  are  now.  We 
have  passed  the  mouth  of  the  McLeod  outlet, 
and  we  have  passed  the  Nation  River  and 
everything  else  that  comes  in  from  the  west. 
Here  we  turn  to  the  east.  It  must  be  nearly 
one  hundred  and  fifty  miles  to  the  real  gate 
of  the  Rockies — at  the  Canon  of  the  Rocky 
Mountains,  as  the  first  traders  called  it." 

"It  looks  like  a  pretty  big  river  now,"  said 
Jesse  dubiously. 

"  I  would  like  to  hope  it's  no  worse  than  it 
has  been  just  above  here,"  said  Rob,  "but  I 
fear  it  is,  from  all  I  know.  Mackenzie  got  it 
in  high  water,  and  he  only  averaged  half  a  mile 
an  hour  for  a  long  time  going  up,  along  in 
here.  Of  course  coming  down  we  could  pick 
our  way  better  than  he  could." 

"  We  have  been  rather  lucky  on  the  whole," 
said  Alex,  "  for,  frankly,  the  water  has  been 
rather  worse  for  canoes  than  I  thought  it 
would  be.  Moreover,  it  is  still  larger  below 
here.     But  that's  not  the  worst  of  it." 

"  What  do  you  mean,  Alex  ?"  inquired  John. 

11  You  ought  not  to  need  to  ask  me,"  replied 
the  old  hunter.  "You're  all  voyageurs,  are 
you  not?" 

"But  what  is  it,  then?" 

"Look  closely." 

162 


EXPLORING  THE  WILDERNESS 

They  went  to  the  edge  of  the  beach  and 
looked  up  and  down  the  river  carefully,  also 
studying  the  forking  valleys  into  which  they 
could  see  from  the  place  where  they  were  in 
camp. 

"Well,  I  don't  know,"  said  Rob,  "but  it 
seems  to  me  she's  rising  a  little!" 

Alex  nodded.  "  We've  been  in  camp  here 
three  hours  now,"  said  he,  "and  she's  come 
up  a  little  more  than  an  inch." 

"Why,  how  do  you  know  that?"  asked 
John. 

"  I  set  a  stick  with  a  notch  at  water-level 
when  we  first  came  ashore." 

"How  did  you  happen  to  think  of  that?" 

"Very  likely  the  same  thing  which  made 
Rob  guess  it." 

"Yes,"  said  Rob,  "I  saw  that  the  Finlay 
water  coming  down  seemed  to  be  discolored. 
But  at  first  I  supposed  it  was  the  natural 
color  of  that  river.  So  you  think  there  has 
been  a  thaw?" 

"  Maybe  some  sort  of  rain  or  chinook  over  in 
there,"  said  Alex.  "What  do  you  think, 
Moise?" 

Moise  and  Alex  talked  for  a  time  in  the 
Cree  language,  Moise  shaking  his  head  as  he 
answered. 

"Moise  thinks  there  has  been  a  little  rise," 
163 


THE  YOUNG  ALASKANS  ON  THE  TRAIL 

interpreted  Alex.  "He  says  that  below  here 
the  river  sometimes  canons  up,  or  runs  be- 
tween high  banks  with  a  narrow  channel. 
That  would  make  it  bad.  You  see,  the  rise  of 
a  foot  in  a  place  like  that  would  make  much 
more  difference  than  two  inches  in  the  places 
where  the  river  is  spread  out  several  hundred 
yards  wide.  We  know  a  little  bit  more  about 
the  river  from  here  east,  because  we  have 
talked  with  men  who  have  been  here." 

"  I  suppose  we'll  have  to  wait  here  until  it 
runs  down,"  said  Jesse. 

"  Maybe  not.  If  we  were  here  earlier  in  the 
season  and  this  were  the  regular  spring  rise 
we  might  have  to  wait  for  some  time  before  we 
could  go  down  with  these  boats.  But  the  big 
flood  has  gone  down  long  ago.  There  isn't 
anything  to  hinder  us  as  yet  from  dropping 
down  and  watching  carefully  on  ahead  as  we 

go-" 

Rob   was   again   consulting  his   inevitable 

copy  of  Mackenzie's  Voyages. 

"It  took  Mackenzie  and  Fraser  each  of 
them  just  eight  days  to  get  this  far  up  the 
river  from  the  west  end  of  the  Canon  of  the 
Rocky  Mountains,"  said  he.  "Fraser  must 
have  built  his  boat  somewhere  west  of  the 
Rocky  Mountain  Portage,  as  they  call  it. 
That  must  be  seventy-five  miles  east  of  here, 

164 


EXPLORING  THE  WILDERNESS 

as  near  as  I  can  figure  it  from  the  Mackenzie 
story,  but  Uncle  Dick's  friend,  Mr.  Hussey, 
said  it  was  one  hundred  and  thirty  miles — 
and  only  two  big  rapids,  the  Finlay  and  the 
Parle  Pas.  I  wish  we  could  run  it  every  foot, 
because  Mackenzie  did  when  he  came  down. 
At  least,  he  doesn't  say  he  didn't." 

"  It  was  done  by  the  traders  for  a  long 
time,"  said  Alex,  "  all  but  those  two  rapids  and 
that  canon.  There  is  no  trail  even  for  horses 
between  Hudson's  Hope  and  Fort  St.  John,  but 
that  is  easy  water.  They  serve  St.  John  now 
with  steamboats,  and  the  old  canoe  days  are 
pretty  much  over.  But,  anyhow,  there  is 
the  main  ridge  of  the  Rockies  east  of  us,  and 
we've  got  to  get  through  it  somehow,  that's 
sure.  Back  there" — he  pointed  up  the  valley 
down  which  they  had  been  coming  now  for 
so  long — "we  were  between  two  ranges  of  the 
divide.  The  Finlay  yonder  comes  down  out 
of  some  other  range  to  the  northwest.  But 
now  the  doubled  river  has  to  break  through 
that  dam  of  the  eastern  rim.  I  suppose  we 
may  look  for  bad  water  somewhere.  Look 
here,"  he  added,  examining  the  map,  "here  are 
the  altitudes  all  marked  on  by  the  government 
suryevors — twenty-five  hundred  feet  above 
sea-level  at  Giscombe  Portage,  twenty-two 
hundred  and  fifty  at  Fort  McLeod.    I  suppose 

165 


THE  YOUNG  ALASKANS  ON  THE  TRAIL 

ft  was  about  three  thousand  feet  where  we 
started  across.  At  the  mouth  of  the  Finlay 
it's  only  two  thousand  feet — a  big  drop.  But 
she  drops  nearly  three  hundred  feet  more  to 
the  west  end  of  the  portage,  and  two  hundred 
feet  more  at  the  east  end.  That's  going  down- 
hill pretty  fast — five  hundred  feet  in  less  than 
one  hundred  and  fifty  miles — and  some  of  it 
not  very  fast  water." 

"  Well,"  ventured  Rob,  "  why  don't  we  drop 
down  as  far  as  we  can,  and  if  we  get  caught 
by  a  flood  then  stop  and  take  a  little  hunt 
somewhere  back  in  the  hills  ?  You  know,  we 
haven't  got  that  grizzly  yet  you  promised  us." 

"Sure  enough,"  said  Alex,  with  no  great 
enthusiasm;  for  he  did  not  relish  the  idea  of 
hunting  grizzly  bear  in  company  with  such 
young  companions. 

"But  we  have  come  through  good  grizzly 
country  already,"  ventured  John. 

"Very  likely,"  Alex  smiled.  "I've  seen 
considerable  bear  sign  along  the  shores,  as 
well  as  a  good  many  moose  tracks  close  to 
where  we  camped." 

"  If  you  think  we're  afraid  to  go  bear  hunt- 
ing, Alex,"  Rob  began,  "you  certainly  don't 
know  us  very  well.  That's  one  of  the  reasons 
we  came  on  this  trip — we  wanted  to  get  a  real 
Rocky  Mountain  grizzly." 

166 


EXPLORING  THE  WILDERNESS 

"  It  is  not  too  late,"  the  old  hunter  rejoined, 
"and  I  shouldn't  wonder  if  there  was  as  good 
country  east  of  here  as  any  we've  come  to. 
The  grizzly  is  a  great  traveler ,  anyhow,  and  is 
as  apt  to  be  found  one  place  as  another.  At 
this  time  of  year  all  the  bears  come  out  of  the 
mountains  and  feed  along  the  valleys  on  red 
willow  buds  and  such  things.  They  even 
swim  from  the  shore  to  the  islands,  in  search 
of  willow  flats.  Besides,  there  are  plenty  of 
saskatoons,  I  don't  doubt,  not  far  back  from 
the  river.  The  bears  ought  to  be  down  out  of 
the  high  country  by  this  time,  and  if  you 
really  care  for  a  hunt,  there  ought  to  be 
plenty  of  good  places  below  here." 

"  It  isn't  dark  yet,"  said  Rob;  "suppose  we 
break  camp  and  run  down  just  a  little  farther 
this  evening.  If  the  flood  comes  in  behind  us, 
we're  just  that  much  ahead." 

They  acted  on  Rob's  suggestion,  and, 
passing  rapidly  on  down  the  now  slightly  dis- 
colored water,  they  soon  left  the  Finlay  gap 
behind  them.  Their  journey  was  but  brief, 
however,  for  soon  they  heard  the  boom  of  the 
rapids  below  them. 

"On  shore,  queek!"  called  Moise  to  Rob, 
who  was  in  the  bow  of  the  leading  boat. 

12 


XV 

IN    THE    BIG    WATERS 

THE  sound  and  sight  of  the  Finlay  rapids, 
at  the  head  of  which  the  leading  boat 
now  paused,  gave  Rob  his  first  real  idea  of  how 
wicked  a  great  mountain  river  can  be.  He 
looked  back  to  see  whether  the  Jaybird  and  her 
crew  were  well  warned  of  the  danger.  But  Alex 
soon  brought  the  other  boat  alongside  at  the 
landing  place,  on  the  south  side  of  the  stream, 
above  the  rapids. 

"Well,  here  we  are,"  said  he.  "Now  you 
may  see  what  some  real  rapids  are.  Those 
little  ripples  up  above  didn't  amount  to 
much." 

"  She  looks  pretty  bad,"  said  Rob.  "  Could 
anybody  run  a  boat  through  there  ?" 

"  Old  Sir  Alexander  probably  did  it,  but  he 
had  a  big  birch-bark.  I'd  take  it  on  with  a 
good  man  and  a  good  boat.  We  could  very 
possibly  even  get  one  of  these  boats  through 
if  we  were  obliged  to,  but  there  is  no  use  taking 
any  risk.     We  can  line  down  through  the 

168 


IN  THE   BIG  WATERS 

worst  of  it,  or  even  run  the  boat  ashore  if  we 
like" 

"Me,  I'll  rather  ron  the  rapeed  than  walk 
on  the  bank  with  boat,"  said  Moise. 

"Never  mind,  Moise,"  said  Alex,  "we'll  not 
have  to  walk  far  with  her.  We'll  camp  here 
to-night  and  look  it  over  in  the  morning. 
It's  always  better  to  tackle  rough  work  in  the 
morning  rather  than  in  the  evening." 

The  young  travelers  slept  none  too  well 
that  night.  The  sound  of  the  rapids  coming 
through  the  dark  and  the  feeling  of  remote- 
ness here  in  this  wild  mountain  region  proved 
depressing  to  their  spirits.  They  were  glad 
enough  when  at  length  toward  dawn  they 
heard  Moise  stirring  about  the  camp.  By  the 
time  they  had  their  breakfast  finished  and 
camp  broken  Alex  had  already  returned  from 
a  trip  along  the  side  of  the  rapids. 

"It's  not  so  very  bad,"  said  he,  "although 
the  river  has  come  up  an  inch  or  so  during  the 
night.  The  whole  rapid  is  about  a  quarter 
of  a  mile  long,  but  the  worst  place  is  only  a 
couple  of  hundred  yards  or  so.  We'll  drop 
down  to  the  head  of  that  strip  on  the  line  and 
portage  around  there." 

They  followed  this  plan,  loading  the  boats 
and  dropping  down  for  a  short  time,  saving 
themselves  all  the  portage  work  they  could. 

169 


THE  YOUNG  ALASKANS  ON  THE  TRAIL 

In  places  the  water  seemed  very  wild,  tossing 
over  the  rocks  in  long,  rolling  waves  or  break- 
ing in  foam  and  spray.  The  boys  scrambled 
alongshore,  allowing  Alex  and  Moise  to  care 
for  the  first  boat  when  it  became  necessary 
for  them  to  double  up  on  each  trip  over  the 
worst  water.  Part  of  the  time  they  bore  a 
hand  on  the  line,  and  were  surprised  to  see  the 
strength  of  the  current  even  on  a  boat  with- 
out a  load. 

"You  see,"  said  Alex,  when  at  length  they 
came  to  a  place  where  the  water  seemed  still 
more  powerful  and  rough,  and  where  it  seemed 
necessary  to  haul  the  boat  entirely  from  the 
water  for  a  carry  of  some  distance  over  the 
rocks,  "it's  better  to  take  a  little  trouble  and 
go  slow  rather  than  to  lose  a  boat  in  here. 
If  she  broke  away  from  us  we'd  feel  a  long 
way  from  home!" 

After  they  got  the  Mary  Ann  again  in  the 
water  and  at  the  foot  of  the  rapids,  the  men 
went  up  after  the  Jaybird,  while  the  boys  did 
what  they  could  toward  advancing  the  cargo 
of  the  Mary  Ann.  In  less  than  an  hour  they 
had  everything  below  the  rapids  and  saw  plain 
sailing  once  more  ahead  of  them.  Moise  ex- 
pressed his  disappointment  at  not  being  al- 
lowed to  run  the  Finlay  rapids. 

"My  onkle,  she'll  always  ron  those  rapeed," 
170 


IN  THE  BIG  WATERS 

said   he.     "S'pose    I'll   tell   heem    I'll   walk 
aroun',  he'll  laugh  on  me,  yes!" 

"That's  all  right,  Moise,"  said  Rob;  "your 
uncle  isn't  here,  and  for  one,  I'm  glad  we  took 
it  easy  coming  through  here.  That's  rough 
water  either  way  you  look  at  it,  up-stream  or 
down.  But  now,"  he  continued,  once  more 
consulting  his  maps  and  notes,  "we  ought  to 
have  a  couple  of  days  of  good,  straightaway 
running,  with  almost  no  bad  water.  It's 
about  seventy  miles  from  here  to  the  Parle 
Pas  rapids.  And  speaking  of  rapids,  they 
tell  me  that's  the  worst  place  on  the  whole 
river." 

"That's  a  funny  name — why  do  they  call 
them  the  Parle  Pas  rapids?"  asked  Jesse. 

"  Those  were  Frenchman  words,"  said  Moise. 
"Parle  Pas  means  'no  speak.'  He's  a  quiet 
rapeed.  S'pose  you'll  ron  on  the  river  there, 
an'  smoke  a  pipe,  an'  talk,  an'  not  think  of 
nothing.  All  at  once,  Bourn!  You'll  been  in 
those  rapeed,  an'  he'll  not  said  a  word  to 
you! 

"Well,"  said  Rob,  "the  traders  used  to  run 
them  somehow,  didn't  they?" 

"  Yes,  my  onkle  he'll  ron  them  in  beeg  boat 
many  tarn,  but  not  with  leetle  boat.  She'll 
jump  down  five,  three  feet  sometimes.  Leetle 
boat  she'll  stick  his  nose  under,   yes.     My 

171 


THE  YOUNG  ALASKANS  ON  THE  TRAIL 

onkle  he'll  tol'  me,  when  you  come  on  the 
Parle  Pas  take  the  north  side,  an'  find  some 
chute  there  for  leetle  boat.  Leetle  boat  could 
ron  the  Parle  Pas,  maybe  so,  but  I  suppose,  us, 
we'll  let  those  boat  down  on  the  line  because 
we'll  got  some  scares,  hein?" 

"It's  just  as  well  to  have  some  scares  on 
these  mountain  rivers,  Moise,"  said  Alex,  re- 
provingly. "This  water  is  icy  cold,  and  if 
even  a  man  got  out  into  the  rapids  he  couldn't 
swim  at  all,  it  would  tumble  him  over  so. 
We'll  line  down  on  the  Parle  Pas,  yes,  depend 
on  that.  But  that's  down-stream  a  couple  of 
days  if  we  go  slow." 

"When  do  we  get  that  bear  hunt,  Alex?" 
asked  John,  who  loved  excitement  almost  as 
much  as  Moise. 

"Almost  anywhere  in  here,"  answered 
Alex;  "but  I  think  we'd  better  put  off  the 
hunt  until  we  get  below  all  the  worst  water. 
No  use  portaging  bear  hides." 

"It  looks  like  good  bear  country  here," 
said  Rob.  "We  must  be  in  the  real  Rockies 
now,  because  the  mountains  come  right  down 
to  the  river." 

"Good  bear  country  clear  to  Hudson's 
Hope,  or  beyond  that,"  assented  Alex. 

"All  right,"  said  Rob;  "we'll  have  a  good 
hunt  somewhere  when  we  get  below  the  Parle 

172 


IN  THE  BIG  WATERS 

Pas.  If  we  have  to  do  any  more  portaging, 
we  don't  want  to  carry  any  more  than  we  can 
help,  that's  true.  And,  of  course,  we're 
going  to  get  that  grizzly." 

Having  by  this  time  reloaded  the  boats, 
they  re-embarked,  and  passed  merrily  on  down 
the  river,  which  now  seemed  wholly  peaceful 
and  pleasant.  The  mountains  now  indeed 
were  all  about  them,  in  places  rising  up  in 
almost  perpendicular  rock  faces,  and  the 
valley  was  very  much  narrower.  They  were 
at  last  entering  the  arms  of  the  great  range 
through  which  they  later  were  to  pass. 

The  character  of  the  river  changed  from 
time  to  time.  Sometimes  they  were  in  wide, 
quiet  reaches,  where  they  needed  the  paddles 
to  make  much  headway.  Again  there  would 
be  drops  of  faster  water,  although  nothing 
very  dangerous.  Relieved  as  they  were  now 
of  any  thought  of  danger  for  the  next  sixty  or 
seventy  miles  ahead,  this  part  of  their  journey 
seemed  delightful  in  every  way.  They  did 
not  pause  to  hunt,  and  saw  no  game  excepting 
one  band  of  four  timber  wolves,  upon  which 
they  came  as  they  swept  around  a  bend,  but 
which  hastened  under  cover  before  any  one 
could  get  a  shot.  Once  in  a  while  they 
stopped  at  little  beaches  or  bars,  and  almost 
always  saw  the  trails  of  large    game  in  the 

173 


THE  YOUNG  ALASKANS  ON  THE  TRAIL 

sand  or  mud.  Always  they  felt  that  now  they 
were  deep  in  the  wilderness,  and  every  mo- 
ment was  a  pleasure  to  them. 

They  did  not  really  know  how  far  below 
the  Finlay  rapids  they  traveled  that  day, 
for  continually  they  discovered  that  it  is 
difficult  to  apply  map  readings  to  the  actual 
face  of  a  new  country.  They  made  no  great 
attempt  at  speed,  but  sometimes  drifted  down- 
stream, the  boats  close  together.  Sometimes 
when  the  wind  was  fair  Rob  or  John  would 
raise  the  corner  of  a  tent  or  blanket  to  act  as  a 
sail.  Thus,  idling  and  chatting  along,  they 
made  perhaps  forty  miles  down-stream  before 
they  made  their  next  evening  camp.  The 
country  seemed  to  them  wilder  now,  since  the 
bold  hills  were  so  close  in  upon  them,  though 
of  course  they  knew  that  each  day  was  bring- 
ing them  closer  to  the  settlements  on  the 
eastern  side  of  the  range. 

That  night  was  cold,  and  they  had  no 
trouble  with  mosquitoes.  Feeling  no  need 
of  hurry,  they  made  a  late  start  and  idled  on 
down  the  river  through  a  very  interesting 
mountain  region,  until  the  afternoon.  Tow- 
ard evening  they  began  to  feel  that  they 
might  perhaps  be  near  the  dreaded  Parle  Pas 
rapids,  and  they  approached  each  bend  with 
care,  sometimes  going  ashore  for  a  prospect- 

174 


IN  THE  BIG  WATERS 

ing  trip  which  proved  to  be  made  only  on  a 
false  alarm.  They  had,  however,  now  begun 
to  learn  the  "feel  of  the  water,"  as  the  voya- 
genrs  called  it.  Rob,  who  was  ahead,  at 
length  noted  the  glassy  look  of  the  river,  and 
called  back  to  Moise  that  he  believed  there 
were  rapids  ahead. 

"Parle  Pas!"  cried  Moise.  "On  shore, 
queek!" 

Swiftly  they  paddled  across,  to  the  north 
side  of  the  river,  where  presently  they  were 
joined   by   the   other   boat. 

"She's  the  Parle  Pas,  all  right,"  laughed 
Moise;    "look  at  heem!" 

From  their  place  of  observation  they  could 
see  a  long  ridge,  or  rim,  the  water  falling  in  a 
sort  of  cascade  well  out  across  the  stream. 
There  seemed  to  be  a  chute,  or  channel,  in 
midstream,  but  the  back-combing  rollers 
below  it  looked  ominously  large  for  a  boat  the 
size  of  theirs,  so  that  they  were  glad  enough 
to  be  where  they  were,  on  dry  land. 

Moise  was  once  more  for  running  the  boats 
through  the  chute  on  the  north  shore,  but 
Alex's  cautious  counsel  prevailed.  There  was 
not  more  than  thirty  or  forty  feet  of  the  very 
worst  water,  rather  a  cascade  than  a  long 
rapid,  but  they  discharged  the  cargo  and 
lined   both   boats   through   light.     This   sort 

i75 


THE  YOUNG  ALASKANS  ON  THE  TRAIL 

of  work  proved  highly  interesting  and  exciting 
to  all  hands,  and,  of  course,  when  superin- 
tended by  such  men  as  Alex  and  Moise  had  no 
great  danger,  although  all  of  them  were 
pretty  wet  when  at  length  they  had  their 
boats  reloaded  at  the  foot  of  the  rapids. 

"  I  know  how  Sir  Alexander  got  across  the 
mountains,"  said  John.  "He  had  good  voya- 
geurs  to  do  the  work!  About  all  he  had  to 
do  was  to  write  the  story  each  night,  and  he 
didn't  do  that  any  too  well,  it  seems  to  me — 
anyhow,  when  you  come  to  read  his  story  back- 
ward you  can't  tell  where  you  are  very  well." 

"That's  right,"  said  Rob.  "I  don't  much 
blame  Simon  Fraser  for  finding  fault  with 
Mackenzie's  narrative.  But  maybe  if  we 
had  written  the  story  they'd  have  found 
fault  with  us  the  same  way.  The  same  coun- 
try doesn't  look  alike  to  different  people,  and 
what  is  a  mile  to  one  man  may  be  two  miles 
to  another  when  both  are  guessing.  But 
anyhow,  here  we  are  below  the  '  Polly  '  rapids 
— as  the  traders  call  them  to-day — and  jolly 
glad  we  ought  to  be  we're  safe,  too." 

"Plain  sailing  again  now  for  a  while,"  said 
Jesse.     "Let's  see  the  map." 

They  all  bent  over  the  different  maps  they 
had,  especially  one  which  Rob  had  made  up 
from  all  the  sources  of  information  he  had. 

176 


IN   THE   BIG   WATERS 

"Yes,"  said  Rob,  "it  ought  to  be  about 
sixty  miles  of  pretty  good  water  now  until 
we  get  to  the  one  place  on  this  river  which 
the  boldest  voyageur  never  tried  to  run — the 
Canon  of  the  Rocky  Mountains,  as  the  very  first 
travelers  called  it." 

"Those  map  she'll  not  been  much  good," 
said  Moise,  pointing  to  the  government  maps 
of  which  Rob  had  a  store.  "The  only  good 
map  she'll  been  made  by  the  Injun  with  a 
stick,  s'pose  on  the  sand,  or  maybe  so  on  a 
piece  of  bark.  My  onkle  she'll  made  me  a 
map  of  the  Parle  Pas.  He'll  show  the  place 
where  to  go  through  the  middle  on  the  Parle 
Pas.  S'pose  you'll  tell  my  onkle,  Moise  he'll 
walk  down  the  Parle  Pas  an'  not  ron  on  heem, 
he'll  laugh  on  me,  heem!  All  right,  when 
you  get  to  the  Grand  Portage  sixty  miles  be- 
low, you'll  get  all  the  walk  you  want,  Alex, 
heinV1 

Alex  answered  him  with  a  pleasant  smile, 
not  in  the  least  disposed  to  be  laughed  into 
taking  any  risks  he  did  not  think  necessary . 

"  We'd  better  drop  down  a  few  miles  farther 
before  we  make  camp,"  said  he.  "En  avant, 
Moise.     En  roulant,  ma  bolder 

Moise  turned  to  his  paddle  and  broke  into 
song  gaily  as  they  once  more  headed  down 
the  stream.     They  did  not  tarry  again  until 

177 


THE  YOUNG  ALASKANS  ON  THE  TRAIL 

the  sun  was  behind  the  western  ridges.  The 
mountain  shadows  were  heavy  when  at  last 
their  little  fire  lighted  up  the  black  forest  which 
crowded  close  in  all  around  them. 

"I  think  this  is  fine,"  said  Jesse,  quietly, 
as  they  sat  about  the  camp-fire  that  night. 

"  I  wouldn't  have  missed  it  for  anything  in 
the  world,"  said  John;  and  Rob  gave  his 
assent  by  a  quiet  nod  of  satisfaction. 

"I  feel  as  if  we  were  almost  home  now," 
said  Jesse.  "  We  must  have  come  an  awfully 
long  way." 

Alex  shook  his  head.  "  We're  a  long  way 
from  home  yet,"  said  he.  "When  the  Klon- 
dike rushes  were  on  some  men  got  up  as  far 
north  as  this  place,  and  scattered  everywhere, 
hoping  they  could  get  through  somehow  to  the 
Yukon — none  of  them  knew  just  how.  But 
few  of  them  ever  got  up  this  river  beyond 
Hudson's  Hope,  or  even  Fort  St.  John,  far 
east  of  there.  Some  turned  back  and  went 
down  the  Mackenzie,  others  took  the  back 
trail  from  Peace  River  landing.  A  good  many 
just  disappeared.  I  have  talked  with  some 
who  turned  back  from  the  mountains  here,  and 
they  all  said  they  didn't  think  the  whole  world 
was  as  big  as  it  seemed  by  the  time  they  got 
here!  And  they  came  from  the  East,  where 
home  seems  close  to  you!" 

178 


IN  THE   BIG   WATERS 

"Well,"  said  Rob,  "as  it's  probably  pretty 
rough  below  here,  and  good  grizzly  country, 
why  not  stop  here  and  make  that  little  hunt 
we  were  talking  about?" 

"All  right,"  said  Alex;  "I  suppose  this  is 
as  good  a  game  country  as  any.  We  ought 
to  get  a  moose,  even  if  we  don't  see  any  bear. 
In  the  old  times  there  used  to  be  plenty  of 
buffalo  this  far  to  the  west  in  the  mountains. 
What  do  you  say,  Moise — shall  we  make  a 
hunting  camp  here?" 

"We'll  been  got  no  meat  pretty  quick 
bimeby,"  said  Moise.     "Maybe  so." 

They  were  encamped  here  on  a  narrow 
beach,  which,  however,  sheered  up  high  enough 
to  offer  them  security  against  any  rise  in  the 
stream.  They  were  careful  to  pull  up  the 
boats  high  and  dry,  and  to  secure  them  in 
case  of  any  freshet.  Used  as  they  were  by 
this  time  to  camp  life,  it  now  took  them  but 
a  few  minutes  to  complete  their  simple  opera- 
tions in  making  any  camp.  As  all  the  boys 
had  taken  a  turn  at  paddling  this  day,  and  as 
the  exciting  scenes  of  the  past  few  days  had 
been  of  themselves  somewhat  wearying,  they 
were  glad  enough  to  get  a  long  night's  sleep. 

Before  Rob,  the  leader  of  the  younger 
members  of  the  party,  had  rolled  up  in  his 
blankets  Alex  came  to  him  and  asked  him 

179 


THE  YOUNG  ALASKANS  ON  THE  TRAIL 

whether  he  really  cared  to  finish  running  the 
river,  provided  they  could  get  out  overland. 

"  Surely  we  do,"  said  Rob  at  once.  "  We'll 
go  on  through,  as  far  as  we  can,  at  least,  by 
boat.  We  don't  wrant  to  be  modern  and 
ride  along  on  horseback  until  we  have  to. 
Mackenzie  didn't  and  Fraser  didn't!  Nor  do 
we  want  to  go  to  any  trading-post  for  supplies. 
We  can  get  butter  and  eggs  in  the  States  if  we 
want  to,  but  we're  hunters!  You  show  us  a 
grizzly  to-morrow,  Alex,  that's  all!" 

"All  right,"  said  Alex,  smiling.  "Maybe 
we  can." 


XVI 

THE     GRIZZLY     HUNT 

WHY,  Alex,  this  land  along  the  bayou 
here  looks  like  a  cattle-yard!"  ex- 
claimed Rob  as  early  the  next  morning  they 
paused  to  examine  a  piece  of  the  moist  ground 
which  they  had  observed  much  cut  up  with 
tracks  of  big  game. 

There  were  four  in  party  now,  Moise  alone 
having  remained  to  keep  the  camp.  For  an 
hour  or  more  now  they  had  passed  back  to- 
ward the  hills,  examining  the  damp  ground 
around  the  edges  of  the  willow  flats  and  alder 
thickets.  From  time  to  time  they  had  seen 
tracks  of  bears,  some  large  and  some  small, 
but  at  this  particular  point  the  sign  was  so 
unmistakable  that  all  had  paused. 

"  I  don't  know  that  I  ever  saw  more  sign  on 
one  piece  of  ground,"  admitted  Alex.  He 
spoke  in  a  low  tone  of  voice  and  motioned  for 
the  others  to  be  very  quiet.  "  The  trouble  is, 
they  seem  to  be  feeding  at  night  and  working 
back  toward  the  hills  in  the  daytime.     On 

181 


THE  YOUNG  ALASKANS  ON  THE  TRAIL 

this  country  here  there  have  been  six  black 
bears  and  two  grizzlies." 

"Yes,  and  here's  that  big  track  again," 
said  Rob.  "  He  sinks  in  the  mud  deep  as  an 
ox,  and  has  a  hind  foot  as  long  as  my  rifle- 
stock." 

"Six  or  eight  hundred  pounds,  maybe," 
said  Alex.  "  He's  a  good  one.  The  other  one 
isn't  so  big.  They  fed  here  last  night,  and 
seem  to  be  working  up  this  little  valley  toward 
the  hills  again.  If  we  had  plenty  of  time 
I'd  be  in  favor  of  waiting  here  until  evening, 
for  this  seems  to  be  a  regular  stamping-ground 
for  bear.     What  do  you  think,  Mr.  Rob  ?" 

"Well,"  said  Rob,  "I  know  it  usually  isn't 
much  worth  while  to  follow  a  bear,  but  maybe 
it  wouldn't  do  any  harm  in  here  to  work  on 
after  this  one  a  little  way,  because  there 
doesn't  seem  to  be  any  hunting  in  here,  and 
maybe  the  bears  aren't  badly  scared." 

"Very  well,  that's  what  I  think,  too,"  said 
Alex;  "but  if  this  trail  gets  very  much  fresher 
I  think  it  is  just  as  well  for  all  of  us  to  keep  out 
of  the  thicket  and  take  to  the  open.  Maybe 
we  can  find  higher  ground  on  ahead." 

They  passed  on  up,  making  cross-cuts  on 
the  trail  and  circling  now  and  again  through 
the  willow  flats  as  they  advanced.  Once  in  a 
while  Alex  would  have  to  search  a  little  before 

182 


THE   GRIZZLY  HUNT 

he  could  pick  up  the  trail,  but  always  some- 
where among  the  willows  he  would  find  the 
great  footprint  of  the  big  bear.  Often  he 
showed  the  boys  where  the  willows  had  been 
broken  down  by  the  bear  in  its  feeding,  and  at 
some  places  it  left  a  path  as  though  a  cyclone 
had  gone  through. 

Having  established  it  in  his  mind  that  the 
bear  was  steadily  advancing  deeper  back  into 
the  valley  they  were  following,  Alex  at  last 
left  the  willow  flats  and  made  for  the  side  of 
the  depression  down  which  a  little  stream 
was   coming,    striking   into   the   hills   at   the 
place  where  the  valley  finally  narrowed  to  a 
deep  coulee.     Here  they  advanced  slowly  and 
cautiously,  taking  care  to  be  on  the  side  where 
the  wind  would  favor  them  most,  and  once  in 
a  while  Alex  still  dropped  down  to  the  foot 
of  the  coulee  in  search  of   sign  or  feeding- 
ground.     As    they    advanced,    however,    the 
course  of  the  stream  became  more  definite 
and  the  moist  ground  not  so  large  in  extent, 
so  that  it  became  more  difficult  to  trail  any 
animal  on  the  drier  ground.     A  mile  farther 
on,  none  the  less,  in  a  little  muddy  place,  they 
found  the  track  of  the  giant  bear,  still  ahead 
of  them.     It  had  sunk  eight  inches  or  more 
into  the  soft  earth,  and  a  little  film  of  muddy 
water  still  was  trickling  into  the  bottom  of  the 
13  183 


THE  YOUNG  ALASKANS  ON  THE  TRAIL 

track,  while  at  its  rim  little  particles  of  mud 
still  hung  loose  and  ragged. 

Alex's  eyes  now  gleamed  with  eagerness,  for 
he  saw  that  the  bear  was  but  a  little  distance 
ahead.  He  examined  closely  the  country 
about  to  see  whether  the  big  grizzly  was  alone, 
and  to  his  relief  found  no  sign  of  the  smaller 
bear. 

"I'm  not  afraid  of  them  both,"  said  he, 
in  a  low  whisper  to  Rob,  "  but  sometimes  it's 
easier  to  get  up  to  one  bear  than  it  is  to  two, 
and  I  notice  it's  nearly  always  the  small  one 
that  gives  the  alarm." 

The  big  grizzly,  however,  still  was  traveling 
steadily  at  times.  They  could  not  locate  him 
in  this  thicket,  and,  indeed,  a  little  farther 
on  found  where,  apparently  but  a  few  mo- 
ments earlier,  he  had  left  this  coulee  and 
crossed  a  little  ridge,  apparently  intending  to 
change  his  course  entirely.  This  was  dis- 
appointing, but  Alex  whispered  to  the  young 
hunters  not  to  be  disturbed,  for  that  possibly 
the  bear  might  lie  up  or  go  to  feeding  in  some 
other  ravine  not  far  on  ahead. 

"You'd  better  wait  here,  I  think,"  said  he 
at  last,  as  they  approached  the  top  of  a  little 
ridge,  where  evidently  another  coulee  came 
down. 

He  began  slowly  to  climb  toward  the  top, 
184 


THE  GRIZZLY  HUNT 

from  which  he  could  get  a  view  of  the  other 
side.  Almost  as  soon  as  he  raised  his  head 
above  the  summit  he  pulled  it  back  again. 
Quickly  he  dropped  down  to  where  the  others 
stood. 

"Is  he  there?"  asked  Rob,  eagerly. 

Alex  nodded.  He  looked  at  the  faces  of 
all  the  boys.  Not  one  of  them  was  pale,  and 
every  one  seemed  only  eager  to  go  ahead. 
Slowly  standing  and  watching  them  for  a 
time,  at  length  the  old  hunter  turned,  silently 
motioning  them  to  follow  him. 

What  Alex  had  seen  when  he  peered  over 
the  top  of  the  ridge  was  nothing  else  than  the 
big  bear  feeding  in  the  bushes  which  lay 
some  sixty  yards  ahead  and  below,  where  the 
ground  was  moister.  When  at  length  the 
boys,  however,  reached  the  same  place  and 
gazed  over  eagerly  they  saw  nothing  at  all  at 
first. 

Rob  turned  to  whisper  a  question  to  Alex, 
but  even  as  he  did  so  he  felt  John  clutch  him 
by  the  arm.  Then  as  they  all  looked  on 
ahead  they  saw  the  great  bear  rise  once  more 
on  his  hind  legs  high  above  the  bushes.  He 
was  so  close  they  could  see  his  blocky  head, 
his  square  nose,  and  even  his  little  piggish 
eyes.  Slowly  the  grizzly  turned  a  little  bit 
from  side  to  side,  nodding  his  head  and  whin- 

185 


THE  YOUNG  ALASKANS  ON  THE  TRAIL 

ing  a  little  all  to  himself,  as  he  started  once 
more  to  reach  out  and  break  down  the  tops 
of  the  bushes  toward  him  in  his  great 
arms. 

It  was  at  that  instant  that  the  rifle  of  Alex 
rang  out,  and  he  called  to  the  others  hurriedly, 
"Shoot!     Shoot!" 

He  needed  not  to  give  such  counsel,  for 
every  boy  there  had  almost  at  the  same  in- 
stant fired  at  the  giant  grizzly  which  stood 
below  them.  He  fell  with  a  great  roar,  and 
began  to  thresh  about  in  the  bushes.  No 
sight  of  him  for  a  moment  could  be  obtained. 
All  four  now  sprang  erect,  waiting  eagerly  for 
the  crippled  game  to  break  cover.  John  and 
Rob  even  started  down  the  slope,  until  Alex 
called  out  to  them  peremptorily  to  come 
back.  As  a  matter  of  fact,  three  of  the  four 
bullets  had  struck  the  bear  and  he  was  already 
hurt  mortally,  but  this  could  not  be  deter- 
mined, and  Alex  knew  too  much  to  go  into 
the  cover  after  a  wounded  grizzly. 

The  bear  itself  heard  them  shouting,  and, 
having  located  the  presence  of  an  enemy, 
now  broke  cover  with  a  savage  roar,  limping  as 
best  he  could  in  a  vain  endeavor  to  get  up  the 
slope  and  to  attack  his  enemies.  But  again 
and  again  the  rifles  spoke,  and  an  instant  later 
the  great  bear  dropped  down  and  rolled  limp 

186 


THE  GRIZZLY  HUNT 

at  the  bottom  of  the  slope,  almost  back  into 
the  bushes  from  which  he  had  come. 

" He's  dead  now,  all  right!"  said  Alex,  even 
as  he  held  out  his  hand  to  restrain  his  young 
companions  once  more  from  rushing  in  on  their 
game.  "  Some  one  hit  him  in  the  head  that 
last  time.  I'm  thinking  the  hide  won't  be 
good  for  much,  for  he  must  be  shot  full  of  holes 
by  now!" 

Such  indeed  proved  to  be  the  case.  The 
high-power  rifles,  fired  at  close  range,  with 
hands  excited  yet  none  the  less  fairly  accu- 
rate, had  done  their  work  in  such  fashion  as 
might  have  finished  three  or  four  bears  in- 
stead of  one  even  as  large  as  this  one  proved 
to  be. 

Alex  turned  once  more  to  note  the  conduct 
of  his  young  friends  as  they  gathered  at  the 
side  of  the  dead  bear.  He  smiled  a  little  bit 
grimly.  Whereas  their  faces  had  lately  been 
flushed  and  eager,  they  now  were  just  a  little 
pale,  and  he  saw  that  they  all  were  disposed 
to  tremble  as  they  stood. 

"We're  well  out  of  that,"  said  he,  quietly. 
11  That's  bad  as  the  Parle  Pas.  Of  course  the 
odds  were  in  our  favor,  but  with  a  bear  of 
this  size  any  man  or  any  party  is  well  out  of  it 
when  they  get  him  down.  But  here's  your 
grizzly,  young  gentlemen." 

187 


THE  YOUNG  ALASKANS  ON  THE  TRAIL 

" My,  isn't  he  a  whale!"  said  Jesse.  "  There's 
plenty  of  meat,  I  should  think." 

"Yes,  we've  killed  him,"  said  Alex,  "but 
what  good  is  he  to  us  ?  Grizzlies  aren't  good 
to  eat,  even  when  they  are  feeding  on  berries, 
as  this  one  is." 

"Never  mind,"  said  Rob;  "this  is  a  pretty 
good  robe,  I  want  to  tell  you,  even  if  it  is  only 
in  August.  It  is  finer  and  closer  than  our 
Alaska  bears ;  see  how  white  on  the  shoulders 
and  face.  I  believe  he's  about  as  ugly  a 
customer,  too,  as  most  of  our  big  Alaska 
bears,  that  live  on  fish." 

"Yes,"  said  Alex,  "he's  what  you  call  a 
bald-face,  and  whether  there's  any  truth  in 
it  or  not,  Injuns  always  say  that  these  white- 
faced  bears  are  the  most  savage.  Look  at  his 
claws — they're  white  too.  All  of  them  per- 
fect, however,  which  shows  that  he  hasn't 
been  digging  among  the  rocks  very  much,  but 
has  been  feeding  in  low  country  for  quite  a 
while.  I  suppose  Moise  would  call  this  bear 
his  cousin,  and  I  doubt  if  he'd  want  to  help 
skin  him.  But  that's  what  we've  got  to  do 
now,  and  it's  no  easy  job  either." 

"We'll  all  help,"  said  Rob. 

"Well,  you'd  better  go  and  help  by  finding 
some  sort  of  rock  for  a  whetstone,"  said  Alex, 
"for  I  see  I  have  left  my  file  down  in  camp. 


THE  GRIZZLY  HUNT 

There's  nothing  in  the  world  takes  the  edge 
off  the  best  steel  like  skinning  a  big  bear — 
the  hide  is  like  sandpaper  inside." 

"Here's  something,"  said  Jesse,  picking  up 
a  flat  stone,  "  and  maybe  we  can  sharpen  the 
knives  on  it." 

They  all  fell  to  work  now,  each  with  his  own 
hunting-knife.  Alex,  of  course,  did  most  of 
the  work,  first  ripping  down  the  tough  hide 
with  his  big  buffalo  knife,  along  each  leg  and 
up  the  middle  of  the  body.  Then  giving 
each  of  the  boys  a  leg,  and  himself  keeping 
clear  of  the  eager  knife  blades,  they  all  began 
the  work  of  skinning  off  the  hide. 

"  Skin  it  close,"  said  Alex,  "  and  don't  leave 
on  much  meat.  The  Injuns  never  skin  a 
bear  hide  close,  for  the  women  like  the  fat,  it 
seems,  and  they  do  all  the  scraping  in  camp. 
But  this  hide  is  so  big  that  I'm  not  anxious  to 
carry  any  more  weight  on  it  than  I  have  to — 
I  should  not  wonder  if  it  would  weigh  seventy- 
five  to  a  hundred  pounds,  the  best  we  can  do." 

At  last,  however,  they  had  the  great  hide 
free  from  the  carcass,  with  the  footpads  and 
long  claws  attached,  and  the  scalp  all  skinned 
carefully  free  from  the  skull  at  eyes,  ears,  and 
nose.  Rob  insisted  on  taking  the  skull  also, 
although  Alex  demurred. 

"  Well  carry  it,  Alex,"  said  he.     "This  is  a 
189 


THE  YOUNG  ALASKANS  ON  THE  TRAIL 

splendid  robe,  I'm  telling  you,  fine  color,  and 
not  worn  nearly  as  badly  as  I  should  have 
expected  in  the  summer-time.  We're  going 
to  have  a  rug  made  out  of  it  for  Uncle  Dick's 
house,  and  we  want  the  skull,  too.  We'll 
carry  that  down  the  hill." 

"All  right,"  said  Alex;  "I'll  have  plenty 
to  do  with  the  rest  of  this  old  fellow." 

He  rolled  the  green  hide  into  a  pack,  which 
he  lashed  tightly  with  some  thongs,  and  once 
more  using  his  belt  as  a  pack-strap,  which  he 
rested  on  the  top  of  his  head,  he  managed  to 
get  under  the  weight  of  the  green  hide,  and 
started  off  at  a  half  trot,  following  the  nearest 
valley  down  to  the  river  where  their  camp 
was  pitched. 

Strong  as  the  old  hunter  was,  at  times  even 
he  was  willing  enough  to  set  down  his  pack 
and  rest  awhile,  and  to  smoke  a  pipe.  The 
boys,  who  were  carrying  his  rifle  and  also 
making  shifts  at  carrying  the  heavy  bear  skull, 
themselves  were  willing  enough  to  join  him 
when  he  stopped.  At  last,  however,  they 
got  to  the  top  of  the  bank  under  which  their 
camp  was  pitched. 

"Listen!"  said  Rob.  "There's  some  one 
talking." 

Alex  nodded.  They  stepped  up  to  the  top 
of  the  bank  and  looked  over. 

190 


XVII 

THE    YOUNG   ALASKANS'    "  LOB-STICK  " 

THEY  saw  sitting  near  the  fire  three  men 
beside  Moise,  all  of  them  Indians  or 
half-breeds.  They  were  all  of  them  talking 
and  laughing  eagerly,  certainly  not  showing 
very  much  of  the  so-called  Indian  reserve,  at 
the  time  the  hunters  peered  over  at  them. 
Yet  occupied  as  they  were,  their  senses  were 
always  alert.  One  of  them  heard  a  twig  snap, 
and  turned  his  face  to  the  bank. 

Alex  said  nothing,  but  kicked  over  the 
edge  of  the  bank  the  big  rolled  hide  of  the 
grizzly ;  after  which,  silently  and  with  proper 
dignity,  all  the  hunters,  old  and  young,  ad- 
vanced down  the  bank  and  across  the  beach 
toward  the  fire.  No  one  said  anything  until 
after  the  rifles  were  all  lined  up  against  the 
blanket  rolls  and  the  pipes  of  the  men  had 
been  filled  once  more.  Moise  at  length  could 
be  dignified  no  more,  and  broke  out  into  a 
loud  series  of  French,  English,  and  Cree  terms, 
all  meant  to  express  his  delight  and  approval 

191 


THE  YOUNG  ALASKANS  ON  THE  TRAIL 

at  the  success  of  the  hunt.  The  three  breeds 
also  smiled  broadly  and  nodded  approvingly, 
once  in  a  while  saying  a  word  in  their  own 
tongue  to  one  an  other.  They  did  not,  how- 
ever, seem  to  ask  any  questions  regarding  the 
hunt  as  yet.  Alex  spoke  a  word  or  so  to 
Moise. 

"She's  been  my  cousin,"  said  Moise,  point- 
ing indifferently  to  all  three  of  the  new-comers. 
He  also  pointed  to  their  means  of  locomotion, 
a  long  and  risky  looking  dugout  which  lay 
at  the  beach. 

"He'll  gone  on  up  the  river,"  said  Moise, 
"from  Hudson's  Hope." 

"Well,  when  they  go,"  said  Alex,  "I  sup- 
pose you'll  have  to  give  them  something  to 
eat,  as  you  seem  to  be  doing  now.  Only 
please  don't  part  with  quite  all  our  supplies — 
we're  going  to  need  a  little  tea  and  flour  for 
ourselves  before  we  get  out  of  here.  You  can 
tell  these  men  there's  plenty  of  game  in  this 
part  of  the  country,  so  they  can  easily  make  a 
hunt  if  they  like.' 

"Sure,"  said  Moise,  "I'll  dream  last  night 
you'll  catch  grizzly  this  time.  But  how  we'll 
go  to  put  heem  in  boat,  heinf  S'pose  we  put 
that  hide  in  canoe,  she'll  sink  unless  we  eat  up 
all  the  grub  pile." 

Alex  told  Moise  to  unroll  the  bear  hide  so 
192 


THE  YOUNG  ALASKANS'   "LOB-STICK" 

that  it  might  dry  as  much  as  possible.  He 
then  set  all  of  them  at  fleshing  the  hide,  a 
task  none  of  them  seemed  to  relish.  After- 
ward, he  also  added  some  sort  of  counsel  in 
the  Cree  language  which  presently  resulted 
in  the  three  visitors  tightening  up  their  belts, 
taking  their  solitary  rifle,  and  passing  out  of 
sight  in  the  bush  at  the  top  of  the  bank. 

"Where  are  they  going?"  asked  John, 
curiously,  of  Moise. 

"She'll  say  she'll  go  after  bear  meat,"  said 
Moise.  "Not  got  much  meat,  for  she'll  ain't 
seen  much  moose  yet." 

"Well,  they're  welcome  to  that  grizzly 
meat,"  grinned  Alex.  "  I  didn't  think  they'd 
eat  it.  They  must  be  starving.  Make  them 
up  a  little  package  of  tinned  stuff,  Moise,  and 
put  it  in  their  boat.  I  think  we'll  need  about 
all  the  bacon  we've  got,  and  they  can  use  the 
fat  of  the  bear  better  than  we  can.  Give  them 
some  tea,  and  a  little  flour  too.  What  do 
they  say  about  the  river  below  here  at  the 
big  canon?" 

"Says  bad  water,"  said  Moise.  "She'll 
rose  perhaps  four,  three,  two  inches  to-day, 
maybe  so,  here,  and  that's  all  same  so  many 
foots  in  the  canon.  She'll  say  best  way  to  do 
is  to  take  portage  trail  and  leave  those  boat 
on  west  end  of  those  canon." 

193 


THE  YOUNG  ALASKANS  ON  THE  TRAIL 

"Yes,  but  we  want  to  get  our  boats  through," 
said  Alex,  "  although  it  must  be  a  dozen  miles 
anyhow  by  way  of  the  carrying  trail,  and  not 
too  good  at  that." 

"He'll  say,"  resumed  Moise,  "s'pose  we 
take  those  boat  through  to  the  big  mountain — 
through  big  water,  ver'  wide,  with  many 
islands — we'll  come  on  a  place  where  boats 
can  go  up  the  bank,  if  plenty  men  carry  them 
up.  Then  she'll  been  ten  mile,  eight  mile,  to 
some  place  below  the  mountain.  All  the  tarn 
she'll  say  best  way  is  to  go  by  horse,  on  the 
north  side  of  the  river,  on  the  police  trail  from 
Fort  St.  John,  s'pose  we'll  could  find  that 
trail,  an'  s'pose  we'll  had  some  horse." 

"What  do  you  say,  Mr.  Rob?"  asked  Alex. 
"We  ought  to  get  our  boats  down.  Shall  we 
haul  out  at  the  west  end,  or  try  for  Hudson's 
Hope?" 

"  I'd  be  in  favor  of  getting  down  as  far  as  we 
can,"  said  Rob.  "We  can  reach  the  head  of 
the  mountain  in  a  couple  of  days.  I'm  for 
moving  on  down  and  taking  a  chance  on  the 
rest  of  it !  Of  course  we'll  have  to  portage  the 
canon   somehow." 

"That  suits  me,"  said  John.  And  even 
Jesse,  the  youngest  of  the  three,  was  all  for 
continuing  the  journey  as  originally  planned. 

"All  right,"  said  Alex,  "I'm  with  you. 
194 


THE  YOUNG  ALASKANS'   "LOB-STICK" 

We're  learning  the  game  now,  certainly,  and 
I  don't  think  we'll  find  this  part  of  the  river 
any  worse  than  it  has  been  up  above.  There 
isn't  anything  bad  marked  on  the  map,  any- 
how, for  quite  a  way." 

At  about  this  time,  as  they  were  all  busied 
about  the  camping  place,  the  boys  noticed 
Alex  and  Moise  step  a  little  apart  and  begin 
to  converse  in  low  tones.  From  their  looks 
and  gestures,  the  boys  gathered  that  the  men 
were  speaking  of  something  in  which  they 
themselves  were  concerned,  in  just  what  way 
they  could  not  tell.  Presently  Moise  smiled 
and  nodded  vigorously.  Approaching  the 
camp-fire,  he  took  up  his  short-handled  ax 
and  slung  it  at  his  back  by  a  bit  of  thong. 
Then  he  stepped  over  to  the  tallest  and 
straightest  pine-tree  which  grew  close  to  the 
water's  edge  thereabout.  Active  as  a  cat, 
he  soon  had  climbed  the  lower  branches, 
where,  without  pausing,  he  began  to  hack  off, 
close  to  the  trunk,  every  branch  within  his 
reach.  Having  done  so,  he  climbed  yet 
higher  up  and  repeated  the  operation,  as 
though  it  were  his  purpose  to  cut  off  nearly  all 
the  branches  to  the  top  of  the  tree.  At  first 
the  boys  thought  he  was  gathering  boughs 
for  the  beds,  but  as  they  were  almost  ready  to 
break  camp  they  could  not  understand  this. 

195 


THE  YOUNG  ALASKANS  ON  THE  TRAIL 

"Let's  go  up  and  help  him,  fellows!"  ex- 
claimed John. 

Alex  restrained  them.  "No,  you  mustn't 
do  that."     John  stopped  rather  abashed. 

"You  see,"  explained  the  old  hunter,  "you 
are  concerned  in  this,  so  you  must  not  help." 

"  I  don't  understand — "  began  John. 

"Well,  the  truth  is,  we  are  going  to  give 
you  a  celebration.  In  short,  we  are  making 
a  monument  for  you  young  gentlemen,  all  of 
you." 

Rob  broke  into  the  conversation.  "A 
monument?  But  we're  not  dead,  and  aren't 
going  to  be  soon!" 

"  This  is  a  monument  of  the  Far  North.  It 
is  not  necessary  to  die.  We  are  making 
you  what  we  call  a  '  lob-stick, '  or  '  lop-stick. ' ' 

"I  never  heard  of  anything  like  that." 

"Very  likely  not.  Nor  do  I  suppose  there 
is  one  this  far  to  the  west,  although  there  are 
some  which  we  may  see  down  the  Peace  River. 
Had  Mackenzie  and  Fraser  got  their  dues, 
each  of  them  would  have  had  a  'lob-stick' 
somewhere  in  here.  Probably  they  were  too 
busy  in  those  days.  But  if  either  of  them  had 
had  a  '  lob-stick '  made  for  him  it  would  very 
likely  be  standing  to-day.  In  that  case  every 
man  who  went  past  on  the  river  would  know 
why  it  had  been  given." 

196 


THE  YOUNG  ALASKANS'   "LOB-STICK" 

The  boys  were  very  much  excited  over  this 
and  demanded  of  Alex  that  he  should  explain 
more  precisely  these  matters. 

"Well,"  said  the  old  hunter,  kindly,  "each 
country  has  its  own  ways.  When  I  was  in 
London  with  General  Kitchener  I  went  to 
Westminster  Cathedral,  and  saw  there  en- 
graved in  brass  the  names  of  men  who  had 
done  deeds  worth  commemorating.  It  is  our 
way  in  this  country  also  to  perpetuate  the 
memory  of  deeds  of  goodness  or  of  bravery, 
anything  which  is  remarkable  and  worth 
remembering.  Here  and  there  along  the 
Peace  River,  and  far  to  the  north  on  the 
Athabasca,  you  will  see  a  tree  trimmed  like 
this,  different  from  the  others,  and  noticeable 
to  all  passers-by.  Perhaps  one  tells  where  a 
man  has  saved  the  life  of  another  man,  or 
where  a  party  have  divided  their  food  until  all 
starved,  or  where  some  great  deed  was  done, 
such  as  a  fight  with  some  animal.  Any  great 
event  in  our  history  we  may  keeo  in  mind  in 
this  way.  When  the  men  go  by  on  the  river 
they  think  of  that.  We  believe  it  may  make 
their  hearts  stronger,  or  make  them  more 
disposed  to  do  good  or  brave  things  them- 
selves.    It  is  our  custom." 

"But  what  have  we  done  to  deserve  this?" 
demanded  Rob. 

197 


THE  YOUNG  ALASKANS  ON  THE  TRAIL 

"  Moise  and  I  and  those  other  men  who  were 
here  have  the  right  to  decide  in  regard  to 
that,"  said  Alex.  "  We  would  not  be  foolish 
enough  to  leave  a  'lob-stick'  for  any  light 
reason.  To  us  it  seemed  that  you  were  brave, 
considering  your  years,  in  facing  the  grizzly 
this  morning  as  you  did;  also,  that  you  are 
brave  to  undertake  this  trip,  young  as  you 
are,  and  with  us  whom  you  did  not  know, 
across  this  wild  country,  which  daunted  even 
Mackenzie  and  Fraser  in  the  old  days.  Hav- 
ing met  in  council,  Moise  and  I  have  deter- 
mined to  do  this.  We  think  there  is  no  other 
'  lob-stick '  on  the  river  above  here,  and  that 
there  is  not  apt  to  be." 

By  this  time  Moise  had  lopped  off  all  the 
branches  of  the  tree  except  the  top  ones, 
which  stood  out  like  an  umbrella.  Descend- 
ing from  stub  to  stub,  he  now  trimmed  off  all 
the  remaining  branches  clear  to  the  ground. 
As  Alex  had  said,  the  tree  stood  straight  and 
unmistakable,  so  that  any  voyageur  on  the 
river  must  notice  it. 

Rob  took  off  his  hat,  and  the  others  did  the 
same.  "  We  do  not  know  how  to  thank  you 
for  this  honor,  Alex  and  Moise,"  said  he,  "but 
we  will  try  never  to  do  anything  which  shall 
make  you  ashamed  of  us.  If  we  do,  you  may 
come  and  cut  down  this  tree." 

198 


THE  YOUNG  ALASKANS'   "LOB-STICK" 

"I  believe  it  will  stand,"  smiled  Alex. 
"  Not  many  men  pass  here  in  these  days,  but 
by  and  by  every  man  who  does  come  here 
will  know  where  this  tree  stands  and  why  it 
was  made  a  'lob-stick.'  They  will  measure 
distances  by  it  on  the  river.  And  always 
when  the  voyageurs  pass,  or  when  they  camp 
here  near  the  tree,  they  will  know  your  story. 
That  is  the  way  history  is  made  in  this  coun- 
try. I  think  that  a  hundred  years  from  now, 
perhaps,  men  will  know  your  story  as  well  as 
you  do  that  of  Mackenzie  and  Fraser,  although 
theirs  was  written  in  books.  This  is  our  cus- 
tom.    If  it  pleases  you,  we  are  very  glad." 

Hats  still  in  hand,  the  boys  now  stepped  up 
one  by  one  and  shook  hands  with  Alex  and 
Moise.  When  they  left  this  camp  they 
looked  back  for  a  long  time,  and  they  could 
see  their  commemorative  tree  standing  out 
tall,  slender,  and  quite  distinct  from  all  the 
others.  No  doubt  it  stands  there  to-day 
just  as  it  was  left  in  the  honor  of  our  young 
voyageurs. 

14 


XVIII 

BAD    LUCK    WITH    THE    "MARY    ANN" 

ALEX  now  went  down  to  the  boats  and 
-  began  to  rearrange  the  cargo,  from  which 
the  boys  saw  that  in  his  belief  it  was  best  to 
continue  the  journey  that  evening,  although 
it  now  was  growing  rather  late.  Evidently  he 
was  for  running  down  ahead  of  the  flood-water 
if  any  such  should  come,  although  it  seemed  to 
all  of  them  that  after  all  they  need  have  no 
great  fear,  for  the  river  had  risen  little  if  any 
since  morning. 

They  determined  to  put  the  big  bear  hide  in 
the  Mary  Ann,  and  shifted  some  of  the  burden 
of  that  boat  to  the  Jaybird,  folding  up  the 
long  hide  and  putting  it  at  the  bottom  of  the 
canoe  under  the  thwarts,  so  that  the  weight 
would  come  as  low  as  possible.  When  the 
Mary  Ann  had  received  the  rest  of  her  neces- 
sary cargo  she  showed  most  of  her  bundles 
and  packages  above  the  gunwale,  and  Alex 
looked  at  the  two  boats  a  little  dubiously, 
even  after  Moise  had  carried  down  to  the  dug- 

200 


BAD  LUCK  WITH  THE  "MARY  ANN" 

out  of  his  cousins  such  of  the  joint  supplies  as 
even  his  liberality  thought  proper. 

"We'll  try  her,  anyhow,"  said  Alex,  taking 
a  look  up  the  river,  which  came  rolling  down, 
tawny  now,  and  not  white  and  green  in  its 
colors.     So  saying,  they  pushed  off. 

They  must,  at  this  camp,  have  been  some- 
where between  twelve  and  twenty  miles  east 
of  the  mouth  of  the  Parle  Pas  rapids,  and  they 
had  made  perhaps  a  dozen  miles  more  that 
evening  when  they  began  to  come  to  a  place 
where  again  the  mountains  approached  the 
stream  closely.  Here  they  could  not  see  out 
at  all  from  their  place  at  the  foot  of  the  high 
banks  which  hedged  them  in.  At  nightfall 
they  encamped  in  a  wild  region  which  seem- 
ingly never  had  known  the  foot  of  man.  The 
continuous  rush  of  the  waters  and  the  gloom 
of  the  overhanging  forests  now  had  once 
more  that  depressing  effect  which  sometimes 
is  not  unknown  even  to  seasoned  voyageurs. 
Had  they  been  asked,  the  young  travelers 
must  truthfully  have  replied  that  they  would 
be  glad  when  at  last  the  mountans  were 
passed  and  the  prairie  country  to  the  east- 
ward reached. 

On  the  next  day  they  continued  among  the 
high  hills  for  several  hours,  although  at  length 
the  river  expanded  into  a  wide  reach  which 

20I 


THE  YOUNG  ALASKANS  ON  THE  TRAIL 

gave  them  a  little  free  paddling.  In  such 
contractions  of  the  stream  as  they  met  it 
seemed  to  them  that  the  rocks  were  larger, 
the  water  deeper,  and  each  hour  becoming 
more  powerful  than  it  had  been.  Advancing 
cautiously,  they  perhaps  had  covered  thirty 
miles  when  they  came  to  a  part  of  the  stream 
not  more  than  three  hundred  yards  wide, 
where  the  current  was  very  smooth  but  of  con- 
siderable velocity.  Below  this  the  mountains 
crowded  still  closer  in  to  the  stream,  seeming 
to  rise  almost  directly  from  the  edge  of  the 
banks  and  to  tower  nearly  two  thousand  feet 
in  height. 

"  We  must  be  getting  close  to  the  big  port- 
age now, ' '  said  Rob  to  Moise,  as  they  reached 
this  part  of  the  river. 

"Yes,"  said  Moise,  "pretty  soon  no  more 
water  we'll  could  ron." 

Moise's  speech  was  almost  prophetic.  In 
less  than  half  an  hour  after  that  moment  they 
met  with  the  first  really  serious  accident  of  the 
entire  journey,  and  one  which  easily  might 
have  resulted  disastrously  to  life  as  well  as  to 
property. 

They  were  running  a  piece  of  water  where  a 
flat  rapid  dropped  down  without  much  disturb- 
ance toward  a  deep  bend  where  the  current 
swung  sharply  to  the  right.     A  little  island 

202 


BAD  LUCK  WITH  THE  "MARY  ANN" 

was  at  one  side,  on  which  there  had  been 
imbedded  the  roots  of  a  big  tree,  which  had 
come  down  as  driftwood.  The  submerged 
branch  of  this  tree,  swinging  up  and  down  in 
the  violent  current,  made  one  of  the  danger- 
ous "  sweepers  "  which  canoemen  dread.  Both 
Rob  and  Moise  thought  there  was  plenty  of 
room  to  get  by,  but  just  as  they  cleared  the 
basin-like  foot  of  the  rapid  the  Mary  Ann 
suddenly  came  to  a  stop,  hard  and  fast  amid- 
ships, on  a  naked  limb  of  the  tree  which  had 
been  hidden  in  the  discolored  waters  at  the 
time. 

As  is  usual  in  all  such  accidents,  matters 
happened  very  quickly.  The  first  thing  they 
knew  the  boat  was  lifted  almost  bodily  from 
the  water.  There  was  the  cracking  noise  of 
splintering  wood,  and  an  instant  later,  even 
as  the  white  arm  of  the  tree  sunk  once  more 
into  the  water,  the  Mary  Ann  sunk  down, 
weak  and  shattered,  her  back  broken  square 
across,  although  she  still  was  afloat  and  free. 

Rob  gave  a  sudden  shout  of  excitement  and 
began  to  paddle  swiftly  to  the  left,  where  the 
bank  was  not  far  away.  Moise  joined  him, 
and  they  reached  the  shore  none  too  soon,  their 
craft  half  full  of  water,  for  not  only  had  the 
keel  to  the  lower  ribs  of  the  boat  been  shat- 
tered by  the  weight  thus  suspended  amid- 

203 


THE  YOUNG  ALASKANS  ON  THE  TRAIL 

ships,  but  the  sheathing  had  been  ripped  and 
torn  across,  so  that  when  they  dragged  the 
poor  Mary  Ann  up  the  beach  she  was  little 
more  than  the  remnant  of  herself. 

The  others,  coming  down  the  head  of  the 
rapid  a  couple  of  hundred  yards  to  the  rear, 
saw  this  accident,  and  now  paddled  swiftly 
over  to  join  the  shipwrecked  mariners,  who 
luckily  had  made  the  shore. 

"It's  bad,  boys,"  said  Rob,  hurrying  down 
to  catch  the  prow  of  the  Jaybird  as  she  came 
alongside.     "Just  look  at  that!" 

They  all  got  out  now  and  discharged  the 
cargo  of  the  Mary  Ann,  including  the  heavy 
grizzly  hide,  which  very  likely  was  the  main 
cause  of  the  accident,  its  weight  having  served 
to  fracture  the  stout  fabric  of  the  plucky  little 
boat.  When  they  turned  her  over  the  case 
looked  rather  hopeless. 

"She's  smashed  almost  to  her  rail,"  said 

Rob,  "and  we've  broken  that  already.     It's 

that  old  grizzly  hide  that  did  it,   I'm  sure. 

We  lit  fair  on  top  of  that  'sweeper,'  and  our 

whole  weight  was  almost  out  of  the  water 

when  it  came  up  below  us.     Talk  about  the 

power  of  water,  I  should  say  you  could  see  it 

there,  all  right — it's  ripped   our   whole  ship 

almost  in  two !     I  don't  see  how  we  can  fix  it 

up  this  time." 

204 


BAD   LUCK  WITH  THE   "MARY   ANN" 

Moise  by  this  time  had  lighted  his  pipe, 
yet  he  did  not  laugh,  as  he  usually  did,  but, 
on  the  contrary,  shook  his  head  at  Alex. 

"  Maybe  so  we'll  could  fix  heem,"  was  all  he 
would  venture. 

"Well,  one  thing  certain,"  said  Rob,  "we'll 
have  to  go  into  camp  right  here,  even  if  it 
isn't  late." 

"  Did  you  have  any  fun  in  the  other  rapids 
above  here?"  asked  John  of  Rob. 

"No,"  said  Rob;  "it  was  all  easy.  We've 
run  a  dozen  or  twenty  a  lot  worse  than  this 
one.  Not  even  the  Parle  Pas  hurt  us.  Then 
I  come  in  here,  head  paddler,  and  I  run  my 
boat  on  a  'sweeper'  in  a  little  bit  of  an  easy 
drop  like  this.  It  makes  me  feel  pretty  bad, 
111  tell  you  that!" 

They  walked  about  the  boat  with  hands  in 
pockets,  looking  gloom}',  for  they  were  a  little 
bit  doubtful,  since  Moise  did  not  know, 
whether  they  could  repair  the  Mary  Ami  into 
anything  like  working  shape  again. 

Alex,  as  usual,  made  little  comment  and 
took  things  quietly.  They  noticed  him  stand- 
ing and  looking  intently  down  the  river  across 
the  near-by  bend. 

"  I  see  it  too,"  said  Rob.     "Smoke!" 

The  old  hunter  nodded,  and  presently 
walked  on  down  the  beach  to  have  a  look  at 

20? 


THE  YOUNG  ALASKANS  ON  THE  TRAIL 

the  country  below,  leaving  Moise  to  do  what 
he  could  with  the  broken  boat.  The  boys 
joined  Alex. 

Presently  they  saw,  not  far  around  the 
bend,  a  long  dugout  canoe  pulled  up  on  the 
beach.  Near  by  was  a  little  fire,  at  which  sat 
two  persons,  an  old  man  and  a  younger  one. 
They  did  not  rise  as  the  visitors  approached, 
but  answered  quietly  when  Alex  spoke  to 
them  in  Cree. 


XIX 

NEW    PLANS 

THESE  men  say,"  interpreted  Alex,  as  he 
turned  to  the  boys,  "that  it's  sixteen  to 
twenty  miles  from  here  to  the  end  of  the 
portage  out  of  the  hills,  across  the  north  bank, 
which  cuts  off  the  thirty  miles  of  canon  that 
nobody  ever  tries  to  run.  They  say  for  a  little 
way  the  river  is  wide,  with  many  islands,  but 
below  that  it  narrows  down  and  gets  very 
bad.  They're  tracking  stuff  up-stream  from 
the  portage  to  a  surveyors'  camp  which  depends 
on  their  supplies.  They  say  they  will  not 
sell  their  canoe,  because  they  couldn't  get  up- 
stream, but  that  if  we  can  get  east  of  the  port- 
age there's  a  man,  a  sort  of  farmer,  some- 
where below  there,  who  has  a  boat  which  per- 
haps he  would  sell." 

"  What  good  would  that  do  us  ?"  demanded 
John.  "  A  boat  twenty  or  thirty  miles  east  of 
here  across  the  mountains  isn't  going  to  help 
us  very  much.  What  we  want  is  a  boat  now, 
and  I  don't  see  how  we  can  get  along  without 
it.     Won't  they  sell  their  canoe  ?" 

207 


THE   YOUNG  ALASKANS   ON  THE  TRAIL 

"  No,  they  don't  want  to  sell  it,"  said  Alex; 
"they  say  they're  under  employment,  and 
must  get  through  to  the  camp  from  Hudson's 
Hope  on  time.  We  couldn't  portage  a  dug- 
out, anyhow.  But  they  say  that  we  can  go 
on  up  there  with  them  if  we  like,  and  then 
come  back  and  go  around  by  the  portage. 
What  do  you  say,  Mr.  Rob?" 

Rob  answered  really  by  his  silence  and  his 
tight-shut  jaw.  "Well,"  said  he,  "at  least  I 
don't  much  care  about  turning  back  on  a 
trail.  But  we'll  have  to  split  here,  I  think, 
unless  we  all  go  into  camp.  But  part  of  us 
can  go  on  through  by  the  river,  and  the  rest 
come  on  later.  Maybe  we  can  cache  some  of 
our  luggage  here,  and  have  it  brought  on 
across  by  these  men,  if  they're  going  back  to 
Hudson's  Hope." 

"That  sounds  reasonable,"  said  Alex,  nod- 
ding.    "  I  believe  we  can  work  it  out." 

He  turned  and  spoke  rapidly  in  Cree  to  the 
two  travelers,  with  many  gestures,  pointing 
both  up  and  down  the  stream,  all  of  them 
talking  eagerly  and  at  times  vehemently. 

"They  say,"  said  Alex  at  last,  "there's  a 
place  at  the  foot  of  the  high  bank  above  the 
canon  head  where  two  or  three  men  might  be 
able  to  get  a  boat  up  to  the  carrying  trail, 
although   the   landing   is   little  used  to-day. 

20S 


NEW  PLANS 

But  they  say  if  we  could  get  across  to  the  east 
end  of  the  canon  they  could  send  men  down 
by  the  trail  after  that  other  boat.  They 
don't  think  we  can  get  our  boat  across.  They 
say  they'll  find  us  in  a  few  days,  they  think, 
somwhere  on  the  portage.  They  ask  us  if 
they  can  have  what's  left  of  our  canoe.  They 
say  they'll  take  two  dollars  a  day  and  grub  if 
we  want  them  to  work  for  us.  They  don't 
say  that  no  man  could  make  the  portage  be- 
low here,  but  don't  think  we  could  do  it  with 
our  crew.  Well,  what  do  you  say  now,  Mr. 
Rob?" 

"Why,  it's  all  as  easy  as  a  fiddle-string," 
said  Rob.  "I'll  tell  you  how  we'll  fix  it. 
Jess,  you  and  Moise  go  with  these  men  on  up 
to  the  surveyors'  camp,  and  back  down  to 
Hudson's  Hope — you  can  take  enough  grub 
to  last  you  around,  and  you  know  that  water 
is  easy  now.  Alex  and  John  and  I  will  still 
have  enough  grub  to  last  us  through  to  the 
east  side  of  the  Rockies — we're  almost  through 
now.  It  might  be  rather  hard  work  for  Jess. 
The  best  way  for  him  is  to  keep  with  Moise, 
who'll  take  good  care  of  him,  and  it's  more 
fun  to  travel  than  to  loaf  in  camp.  For  the 
rest  of  us,  I  say  we  ought  to  go  through,  be- 
cause we  started  to  go  through.  We  all  know 
where  we  are  now.     Moise  will  bring  the  men 

209 


THE  YOUNG  ALASKANS  ON  THE  TRAIL 

and  supplies  around  to  meet  us  at  the  east 
side.  Even  if  we  didn't  meet,  "he  said  to  Jesse, 
"  and  if  you  and  Moise  got  left  alone,  it  would 
be  perfectly  simple  for  you  to  go  on  through 
to  Peace  River  Landing,  two  or  three  hundred 
miles,  to  where  you  will  get  word  of  Uncle 
Dick.  There  are  wagon-trails  and  steam- 
boats and  all  sorts  of  things  when  you  once 
get  east  of  the  mountains,  so  there's  no  dan- 
ger at  all.  In  fact,  our  trip  is  almost  done 
right  where  we  stand  here — the  hardest  part  is 
behind  us.  Now,  Jess,  if  you  don't  feel  hard 
about  being  asked  to  go  back  up  the  river, 
or  to  stay  here  till  these  men  come  back  down- 
stream, that's  the  way  it  seems  best  to  me." 

"I'm  not  so  anxious  as  all  that  to  go  on 
down  this  river,"  grinned  Jesse.  "It  isn't 
getting  any  better.  Look  at  what  it  did  to 
the  old  Mary  Ann  up  there." 

"Well,  the  main  thing  is  not  to  get  lone- 
some," said  Rob,  "and  to  be  sure  there's  no 
danger.  We'll  get  through,  some  time  or 
somewhere.  Only  don't  get  uneasy,  that's 
all.  You  ought  to  get  around  to  us  in  a 
couple  of  days  after  you  start  on  the  back 
trail.     How  does  it  look  to  you,  Alex?" 

The  old  hunter  nodded  his  approval.  "  Yes," 
said  he;  "I  think  the  three  of  us  will  take  the 
Jaybird  loaded  light  and   run  down  to  the 

2IO 


NEW   PLANS 

head  of  the  mountain  without  much  trouble. 
I  don't  hear  of  anything  particularly  nasty 
down  below  here  until  you  get  nearly  to  the 
gorge.  I  think  we  had  better  hire  these  two 
breeds  for  a  time,  put  them  on  pay  from  the 
time  they  start  up  the  river  with  Moise  and 
Mr.  Jess.  They  say  they  would  like  to  go 
with  Mr.  Jess  for  their  'bourgeois' — that's 
'boss, 'you  know.  They  also  say,"  he  added, 
smiling,  "that  they  would  very  much  like  to 
have  some  sugar  and  tea." 

After  a  time  Alex  rose,  beckoned  to  the  two 
breeds,  and  they  all  went  back  up  the  beach 
to  the  place  where  Moise  by  this  time  was 
building  his  camp-fire  and  spreading  out  the 
cargo  of  the  Mary  Ann  to  dry. 

The  two  breeds  expressed  wonder  at  the 
lightness  of  the  boats  which  they  now  saw, 
and  rapidly  asked  in  their  language  how  the 
party  had  managed  to  get  so  far  across  the 
mountains  with  such  little  craft.  But  they 
alternately  laughed  and  expressed  surprise 
when  they  lifted  the  fragments  of  the  Mary 
Ann  and  pointed  out  the  nature  of  the  injury 
she  had  sustained. 

"Those  man'll  been  my  cousin,  too,"  said 
Moise,  pointing  to  the  new-comers.  "She'll 
been  glad  to  see  us,  both  of  her.  Her  name  is 
Billy  and  Richard.     Ole  Richard,  his  Injun 

211 


THE  YOUNG  ALASKANS  ON  THE  TRAIL 

name  was  been  At-tick  —  'The  Reindeer.' 
Also  she'll  say,"  he  added,  "she'll  ain't  got 
some  tea  nor  sugar.  Allons!  I  think  maybe 
we'll  eat  some  dish  of  tea." 

Soon  they  were  seated  on  the  ground,  once 
more  eating  tea  and  bannock,  piecing  out 
their  meal,  which,  by  the  way,  was  the  third 
during  the  day,  with  some  of  the  dried  caribou 
meat  which  they  had  brought  from  far  above. 

"They'll  ask  me,  my  cousin,"  said  Moise 
at  last,  his  mouth  full,  "what  we'll  take  for 
those  busted  canoe." 

"What  do  you  say,  Mr.  Rob?"  asked  Alex. 

"  I  don't  see  how  it's  going  to  be  worth  any- 
thing to  us,"  said  Rob,  "and  it  will  take  us  a 
long  time  to  patch  her  up  at  best.  Tell 
them  we'll  give  them  what  there  is  left  of  the 
Mary  Ann  if  they'll  take  good  care  of  Jess  on 
the  way  around  on  the  trail.  And  we'll  pay 
them  two  dollars  a  day  each  besides." 

When  Moise  had  interpreted  this  speech, 
the  older  of  the  two  breeds,  who  did  not  speak 
any  English,  rose  and  gravely  shook  each  of 
the  boys  by  the  hand,  then  not  saying  any- 
thing further,  he  rose,  took  his  big  buffalo 
knife  from  its  sheath,  and  proceeded  to  finish 
the  distribution  of  the  unfortunate  Mary  Ann, 
it  being  his  plan  evidently  not  to  float  her 
again,  but  to  reduce  her  to  a  portable  package 

212 


NEW  PLANS 

which  could  be  taken  away  in  their  other 
canoe,  the  dugout,  on  the  beach  below. 

"Well,  there  goes  the  Mary  Ann,"  said 
John,  sadly.  "He  is  evidently  going  to 
make  some  kindling  wood  for  himself." 

"My  cousin  she'll  say  this  boat  must  be 
took  up  to  camp,  where  womans  can  work  on 
heem, ' '  explained  Moise.  "  He'll  say  he'll  patch 
up  those  boat  fine,  for  all  the  ribs  she'll  be  bent 
all  right  an'  not  bust,  and  he'll  make  new  keel 
an'  new  side  rails — oh,  you  wait!  Maybe  so 
nex'  year  you'll  come  here  you'll  see  those  boat 
Marie  H  Ann  just  so  fine  like  she  never  was." 

Whatever  might  have  been  the  future  plans 
for  the  Mary  Ann,  she  soon  resembled  nothing 
so  little  as  a  Peterborough  canoe.  The  old 
man  calmly  proceeded  to  separate  the  frame- 
work at  bow  and  stern,  so  that  he  could 
crush  the  two  sides  of  the  canoe  together  after 
removing  the  ribs,  which  also  he  proceeded  to 
do,  one  by  one.  Finally  he  had  a  pile  of  ribs 
and  some  broken  splints  which  he  laid  care- 
fully on  the  beach.  Then  he  doubled  back 
the  splintered  skin  of  the  canoe,  throwing 
away  very  little  indeed  of  the  fractured  wood- 
work. At  last  he  grunted  some  rapid  words 
to  the  younger  man,  who  seemed  to  be  his 
son  or  a  member  of  his  family. 

"My  cousin  she'll  say  he  can  took  those 

213 


THE  YOUNG  ALASKANS  ON  THE  TRAIL 

boat  in  dugout  all  right  down  the  river,"  said 
Moise.  "She'll  said  to  me  also  we'll  go  on 
Hudson's  Hope  with  heem."  Moise  pointed 
to  Jesse.  Alex  nodded  and  explained  further 
the  plan  wThich  had  roughly  been  sketched  out 
before  that  time  by  Rob  and  himself.  In  a 
little  time  the  younger  Cree  had  returned  and 
poled  the  big  dugout  around  the  bend  up  to 
the  place  where  they  were  now  in  camp.  With 
some  excited  talk  on  the  part  of  both,  they 
now  took  the  wreck  of  the  Mary  Ann  and 
carried  it  up  the  bank  to  await  their  return. 
In  different  places  along  the  great  cotton- 
wood  dugout  they  added  such  supplies  as 
Moise  thought  was  right.  The  other  supplies 
they  then  cached,  and  put  over  all  the  robe  of  the 
big  grizzly,  flesh  side  out,  and  heavily  salted, 
weighting  the  edges  down  with  heavy  stones. 
The  freeboard  of  the  dugout  was  very 
slight  when  Jesse  took  his  place,  but  seemed 
quite  enough  to  satisfy  the  requirements  of 
these  voyageurs.  The  old  man  sprang  into 
the  stern  of  the  dugout  and  motioned  to 
Jesse  to  find  a  seat  amidships.  Meantime 
Moise  was  fixing  up  a  towing  collar,  which  he 
attached  to  the  line.  It  became  apparent 
that  the  plan  was  for  him  and  the  younger 
breed  to  double  on  the  tracking  line,  the  old 
man  remaining  astern  to  do  the  steering. 

214 


NEW  PLANS 

"That's  the  way  we  get  up  a  river  in  this 
country,"  said  Alex  to  Rob,  who  was  watching 
all  this  with  interest.  "  I  would  bet  they 
would  do  twenty-five  miles  a  day  with  that 
rig  they've  got  there — they  go  almost  at  a 
trot  whenever  there's  an  open  bit  of  beach. 
When  there  is  none,  they  pole  or  paddle." 

"I  don't  see  how  they  do  it,"  said  Rob. 
"None  of  them  have  got  anything  on  their 
feet  but  moccasins,  and  those  men  there  have 
only  pieces  of  moccasins  at  that.  I  should 
think  the  rocks  would  cut  their  feet  in  bits!" 

"Well,  you  know,  Moise  and  his  'cousins' 
are  all  "same  like  dog,'  as  he  would  say,"  smiled 
Alex.  "Your  feet  get  used  to  it  in  time. 
These  men  have  never  known  anything  better, 
so  they  have  got  adjusted  to  the  way  they 
have  to  make  their  living.  I  doubt  if  they 
would  wear  hard-soled  shoes  if  they  had 
them,  because  they  would  say  the  soles  would 
slip  on  the  rocks.  They're  in  the  water  about 
as  much  as  they  are  out  of  it  when  they  are 
tracking  a  boat  up-stream.  That's  the  way 
this  country  was  conquered  for  the  white  men 
— by  the  paddle,  pole,  and  tracking  line." 

"You  forget  Uncle  Dick's  way,"  chimed  in 
John. 

"  How  do  you  mean  ?" 

"Railroads." 

15  215 


THE  YOUNG  ALASKANS  ON  THE  TRAIL 

"Yes,"  said  Alex,  sighing,  "they're  coming 
some  day,  that's  sure.  But  even  the  sur- 
veyors and  engineers  had  to  travel  this  way, 
and  I  think  you  will  find  even  in  the  country 
where  the  wagons  are  it's  quite  a  way  from 
here  to  home." 

"Well,  here  we  go,"  said  Rob,  after  a  time. 
"We  mustn't  waste  daylight,  you  know." 

By  this  time  Jesse  was  looking  very  seri- 
ous. Naturally  he  relied  very  much  upon 
Moise,  but  he  disliked  to  leave  his  friends,  and 
especially  to  say  good-by  to  Alex,  on  whom 
they  all  seemed  to  depend  very  much. 

"  It's  the  right  thing  to  do,  Jess,"  said  John, 
after  a  time.  "So  far  as  that  is  concerned, 
you'll  have  it  just  as  safe  and  a  good  deal 
easier  than  we  will,  in  all  probability.  We'll 
meet  you  in  a  week  or  so  at  most." 

"  So  long,  then!"  said  Jesse,  bravely  waving 
his   hand. 

"So  long!"  said  Rob  and  John.  They 
waved  their  caps  to  one  another,  as  each  boat 
now  began  its  way,  the  Jaybird  carrying 
three  passengers,  and  the  long  dugout,  under 
the  tracking  line,  taking  what  remained  of  the 
expedition  of  our  voyageurs,  who  now  sepa- 
rated for  the  time  to  take  different  directions 
on  the  stream  they  had  followed  thus  far. 


XX 

THE    GORGE    OF    THE    MOUNTAINS 

FOR  a  time  after  the  boats  parted  the 
crew  of  the  Jaybird  said  very  little  as 
they  pursued  their  way  down-stream.  The 
accident  to  the  Mary  Ann  made  them  all 
thoughtful,  and  Rob  was  very  careful  in  his 
position  as  bow  paddler  for  the  remaining 
boat.  As  the  craft  was  pretty  well  loaded, 
Alex  also  was  cautious.  They  took  their 
time  when  they  struck  the  head  of  any  fast 
water,  went  ashore  and  prospected,  and  once 
in  awhile  lined  down  the  boat  instead  of  under- 
taking to  run  a  fast  chute.  In  spite  of  their 
additional  caution,  they  ran  mile  after  mile 
of  the  great  river,  until  finally  they  felt  them- 
selves approaching  the  great  eastern  gate  of 
the  Rockies,  whence  there  breaks  out  upon 
the  lower  country  of  the  great  Peace  River 
the  Unjingah,  or  Unjigab,  as  the  natives 
formerly  called  it. 

"Now,"  said  Alex,  at  last,  as  he  steered  in 
217 


THE  YOUNG  ALASKANS  ON  THE  TRAIL 

along  shore,  "  I  think  we'll  stop  and  take  a 
look  around." 

They  had  been  expecting  the  entrance  to 
the  actual  gorge  of  the  river  now  for  the  last 
three  or  four  miles,  for  they  had  passed  into 
the  wide  space,  six  or  eight  hundred  yards  in 
extent,  described  as  lying  above  the  canon 
entrance,  where  the  river,  falling  through  a 
narrow  passageway  in  the  rocks,  is  condensed 
to  a  quarter  of  its  average  width. 

The  fatigue  of  the  steady  travel  of  the  trip 
now  began  to  show  its  effect  upon  them  all, 
and  the  boys  were  quite  ready  to  go  into 
camp.  Rob  and  John  undertook  to  prepare 
the  supper,  and  soon  were  busy  arranging  a 
little  fireplace  of  stone,  while  Alex  climbed 
up  the  bank  to  do  some  prospecting  farther 
on. 

"How  does  it  look,  Alex?"  inquired  Rob, 
when  he  finally  returned.  Alex  waved  a  hand 
as  a  sign  of  his  ignorance.  "  Hills  and  woods," 
said  he.  "  Not  so  much  spruce,  but  some  pine 
and  poplars,  and  plenty  of  'bois  picard' — 
what  you  call  'devil's  club'  on  your  side  of 
the  Rockies.  I  didn't  know  it  grew  this  far 
east.  I  don't  see  how  Mackenzie's  men  got  up 
from  below  with  a  thirty-foot  birch-bark, ' '  he 
added,  after  a  time.  "They  must  have  come 
through  something  on  this  course,   because 

218 


THE  GORGE  OF  THE  MOUNTAINS 

they  could  not  have  taken  the  water  very 
much  below  here,  that's  sure." 

"Is  there  any  trail  at  all,  Alex?"  asked 
John. 

"We've  landed  almost  at  the  trail — just 
enough  to  call  a  trail  for  a  foot  man.  It  isn't 
used  much  to-day,  that's  sure.  Pretty  steep. 
Sandy  farther  up." 

"  Could  we  carry  the  boat  through,  do  you 
think?"  Rob  looked  anxiously  up  at  the 
lofty  bank  which  rose  above  them.  Per- 
haps there  was  a  little  trace  of  stubborn- 
ness in  Rob's  make-up,  and  certainly  he  had 
no  wish  to  abandon  the  project  at  this  stage. 

"  We  might  edge  her  up  the  bank  a  little  at 
a  time,"  said  Alex,  "snubbing  her  up  by  the 
line.  I  suppose  we  could  pass  it  from  stump 
to  stump,  the  same  as  voyageurs  had  to  with 
their  big  birch-barks  sometimes." 

"We'll  get  her  up  somehow  to-morrow," 
said  Rob,  "if  you  say  it's  possible." 

"Then  there'll  be  some  more  hills,"  smiled 
Alex;  "eight  or  ten  or  twelve  miles  of  rough 
country,  I  suppose." 

"Time  enough  to  trouble  about  that  to- 
morrow, Alex.  Sit  down  and  have  a  cup  of 
tea." 

They  still  had  one  or  two  of  their  smoke- 
dried  trout  and  a  bit  of  the  half-dried  caribou 

219 


THE  YOUNG  ALASKANS  ON  THE  TRAIL 

which  they  had  brought  down  with  them.  On 
the  whole  they  made  a  very  fair  meal. 

"Try  some  of  my  biscuits,  Alex,"  suggested 
John.  "  I  baked  them  in  the  spider — mixed 
the  dough  all  by  myself  in  the  sack,  the  way 
Moise  does.     Aren't  they  fine?" 

"You're  quite  a  cook,  Mr.  John.  But  I'm 
sorry  we're  so  nearly  out  of  meat,"  said  Alex. 
"  You  can't  travel  far  on  flour  and  tea." 

"Won't  there  be  any  game  in  the  river 
below  the  Rockies?"  asked  Rob. 

"Oh  yes,  certainly;  plenty  of  bear  and 
moose,  and  this  side  of  the  Peace  River  Land- 
ing, wherever  there  are  any  prairies,  plenty  of 
grouse  too;  but  I  don't  think  we'll  get  back 
to  the  prairies — the  valley  is  over  a  thousand 
feet  deep  east  of  the  mountains." 

"Alex,  how  many  moose  have  you  ever 
killed  in  all  your  life?"  asked  Rob,  curiously. 

"Three  hundred  and  eighty-seven,"  an- 
swered Alex,   quietly. 

The  boys  looked  at  each  other  in  astonish- 
ment. "  I  didn't  know  anybody  ever  killed 
that  many  moose  in  all  the  world,"  said  John. 

"Many   people   have    killed   more   than    I 

have,"  replied  Alex.     "You  see,  at  times  we 

have  to  hunt  for  a  living,  and  if  we  don't 

get  a  moose  or  something  of  the  kind  we 

don't  eat." 

220 


THE   GORGE   OF  THE   MOUNTAINS 

"And  how  many  bear  have  you  ever  killed, 
Alex  ?" 

"Twenty -odd  grizzlies  I  have  killed  or 
helped  kill,"  said  Alex.  "We  rarely  hunt 
them  alone.  Of  black  bear  I  don't  know  how 
many — we  don't  count  them  at  all,  there  are 
so  many  of  them  in  this  country.  But  now 
I  suppose  pretty  soon  we  will  have  to  go  over 
on  the  Hay  River,  or  the  Liard,  farther  north, 
to  get  good  hunting.  The  farms  are  bringing 
in  mowing-machines  and  threshing-machines 
into  this  country  now.  The  game  can't  last 
forever  at  this  rate." 

"Well,  I'm  glad  we  made  our  trip  this  year, " 
said  Rob. 

"We  haven't  made  it  yet!"  smiled  Alex. 
"  But  I  think  to-morrow  we'll  see  what  we  can 
do." 

They  made  an  early  start  in  the  morning, 
their  first  task  being  that  of  trying  to  get  the 
Jaybird  up  the  steep  face  of  the  bluff  which 
rose  back  of  the  camp,  on  top  of  which  the 
trail,  such  as  it  was,  made  off  through  the 
shoulders  of  the  mountains  in  a  general  course 
toward  the  east,  the  river  sweeping  in  a  wide 
elbow,  thirty  miles  around,  through  its  wild 
and  impassable  gorge,  far  to  the  south  of  them. 

Taking  a  boat,  even  a  little  one,  overland  is 
no  easy  task,  especially  up  so  steep  an  ascent 


THE  YOUNG  ALASKANS  ON  THE  TRAIL 

as  this.  Powerful  as  was  the  old  hunter,  it 
was  hard  enough  to  make  much  progress,  and 
at  times  they  seemed  to  lose  as  much  as  they 
gained.  None  the  less,  Alex  was  something 
of  a  general  in  work  of  this  sort,  and  when 
they  had  gained  an  inch  of  progress  he  usually 
managed  to  hold  it  by  means  of  snubbing  the 
boat's  line  around  the  nearest  stump  or  rock. 

"That's  awfully  strong  line,  isn't  it?"  said 
Rob.  "You  brought  that  over  with  you — 
we  didn't  have  that  in  our  country.  We  use 
rope.  I  was  noticing  how  thin  the  line  was 
which  those  two  breeds  had  on  their  dugout 
yesterday." 

"That's  the  sort  they  use  all  through  the 
trade  in  the  North,"  answered  Alex.  "  It  has 
to  be  thin,  or  it  would  get  too  waterlogged 
and  heavy.  You'll  see  how  long  it  needs  to 
be  in  order  that  the  men  on  shore  can  get  it 
over  all  the  rocks  and  stumps  and  still  leave 
the  steersman  headway  on  the  boat.  It  has 
been  figured  out  as  the  right  thing  through 
many  years,  and  I  have  seen  it  used  without 
change  all  my  life." 

"Well,  it  hasn't  broken  yet,"  said  Rob. 
"But  I  think  we  had  better  piece  it  out  by 
doubling  it  the  best  we  can.  We  don't  want 
to  break  it  up  at  this  work." 

Little  by  little,  Alex  lifting  the  main  portion 

222 


THE  GORGE  OF  THE  MOUNTAINS 

of  the  weight,  and  the  boys  shoving  at  the 
stern  the  best  they  could,  they  did  edge  the 
Jaybird  at  last  clear  to  the  top  of  the  bank, 
where  finally  she  sat  on  level  keel  on  a  little 
piece  of  green  among  the  trees. 

While  they  were  resting  John  idly  passed  a 
little  way  to  one  side  among  the  trees,  when, 
much  to  his  surprise,  he  almost  stepped  into 
the  middle  of  a  bunch  of  spruce-grouse.  These 
foolish  birds,  although  perhaps  they  had 
hardly  seen  a  white  man  in  all  their  lives,  did 
no  more  than  to  fly  up  in  the  low  branches 
of  the  trees.  Alex  called  out  in  a  low  tone  to 
John  to  come  back.  Then  he  fumbled  in  his 
pockets  until  he  found  a  short  length  of  copper 
wire,  out  of  which  he  made  a  noose,  fastening 
it  to  the  end  of  a  long  stick. 

"Now,  Mr.  John,"  said  he,  "there's  lunch 
and  supper  both  if  you  can  get  it.  Let's  see 
how  good  you  are  at  snaring  grouse." 

John  cautiously  stepped  up  under  the  tree, 
expecting  every  minute  that  the  birds  would 
fly.  Yet  to  his  amazement  they  sat  there 
stupidly  looking  down  at  him.  Cautiously  he 
raised  the  pole  among  the  lower  branches 
of  the  tree,  and  at  length  managed  to  slip  the 
noose  fairly  about  the  neck  of  the  nearest  bird, 
when  he  gave  it  a  jerk  and  brought  it  down 
fluttering.     Passing  from  one  side  of  the  tree 


THE  YOUNG  ALASKANS   ON  THE  TRAIL 

to  the  other,  he  repeated  this,  and  soon  had 
four  of  the  fat,  young  birds  in  his  possession — 
a  feat  which  interested  John  in  more  ways 
than  one,  for,  as  has  been  indicated,  he  was 
very  fond  of  good  things  to  eat. 

They  left  the  birds  at  the  top  of  the  bank, 
and,  turning,  brought  up  in  a  trip  or  so  all  the 
remainder  of  their  scanty  amount  of  baggage 
from  the  waterside  below. 

"  I  suppose  it  might  be  a  good  plan,  now,  to 
make  a  trip  over  to  the  east,"  said  Alex,  "  and 
see  what  we  can  see." 

They  found  after  a  long  investigation  that 
the  trail,  as  nearly  as  they  could  trace  it,  soon 
swung  away  quite  a  distance  from  the  course 
of  the  stream,  rising  steadily  for  three  miles 
to  a  sort  of  high  bench.  It  held  this  for 
several  miles,  finally  approaching  a  steep  slope 
and  dropping  sharply  toward  the  level  of  the 
water,  which  was  much  lower  than  at  the 
head  of  the  canon. 

They  discovered  the  eastern  end  of  the 
portage  to  be  close  at  the  foot  of  a  high  and 
precipitous  bank  back  of  which  grew  scattered 
clumps  of  poplar-trees.  This  journey,  which 
only  Alex  made  throughout,  took  them 
several  miles  from  the  place  where  they  had 
left  the  Jaybird,  and  they  were  tired  enough 
by  the  time  they  had  returned  to  their  sup- 

224 


THE  GORGE  OF  THE   MOUNTAINS 

plies.  They  made  no  further  progress  on  that 
day.  Alex  told  them  they  would  find  water 
at  only  one  place  on  the  portage,  so  they  must 
camp  here  in  any  case  for  the  night. 


XXI 

THE    PORTAGE    OF    THE    ROCKY    MOUNTAINS 

WE  might  just  as  well  do  what  we  can 
toward  getting  across,"  said  Alex  the 
next  day,  "because  now  we  know  what  there 
is  ahead  of  us.  I'd  just  as  soon  portage  the 
boat  a  little  way,  at  least,  because  it  will  only 
have  to  be  done  when  Moise  and  the  two 
breeds  come  to  help  us.     Come  ahead,  then." 

He  swung  the  Jaybird  up  on  his  broad 
shoulders,  and  started  off  up  a  trail  none  too 
good  at  best.  The  boys,  one  on  each  side  of 
the  stern  of  the  boat,  helped  all  they  could, 
and  thus  they  made  considerable  progress, 
resting  and  carrying  again  and  again,  so  that 
by  noon  the  Jaybird  was  high  and  dry,  and 
far  enough  indeed  from  the  stream  which  had 
brought  her  on  so  long  a  journey. 

In  short,  they  kept  at  this  work,  doubling 
back  to  portage  the  cargo,  and  making  a  mid- 
way camp  at  the  water,  but  always  edging 
both  their  boat  and  their  baggage  farther  on 
over  the  trail,  until  in  the  course  of  three  days 

226 


THE  PORTAGE  OF  THE  ROCKY  MOUNTAINS 

they  actually  finished  the  difficult  portage, 
twelve  miles  in  length,  alone,  one  man  and 
two  boys!  This  feat  would  have  been  im- 
possible for  any  man  less  powerful  and  deter- 
mined than  Alex,  and  even  he  admitted  him- 
self to  be  very  weary  when  at  length  they 
paused  not  far  from  the  scattered  buildings 
of  the  old  port  of  Hudson's  Hope. 

They  were  now  on  the  eastern  side  of  the 
Rockies,  and  the  river  which  they  had  been 
following  here  took  on  yet  a  different  charac- 
ter. It  had  dropped  down  rapidly  in  the 
thirty  miles  of  the  canon,  and  ran  in  a  wide 
flood,  some  hundreds  of  yards  across,  rapid 
and  indeed  violent,  but  still  steady  in  current, 
between  banks  which  rose  sharply  to  a  thou- 
sand feet  in  height  on  either  side.  It  was 
easy  to  be  seen  why  the  earlier  traders  thought 
they  were  among  mountains,  even  before  they 
reached  the  Rockies,  because  from  the  river 
they  really  could  not  see  out  over  the  country 
at  all. 

At  the  top  of  the  steep  bank  above  the 
river  they  left  their  boat  and  most  of  their 
supplies,  with  the  intention  of  waiting  until 
the  arrival  of  the  rest  of  their  party.  Mean- 
time they  paid  a  visit  to  the  half-abandoned 
trading-post.  There  were  only  two  or  three 
log  houses,  where  small  stocks  of  goods  some- 

227 


THE  YOUNG  ALASKANS  ON  THE  TRAIL 

times  were  kept.  There  really  were  two 
posts  here,  that  of  the  Hudson  Bay  Company 
and  of  Revillon  Freres,  but  it  seemed  that 
only  the  Hudson  Bay  post  was  occupied  in 
the  summer-time.  Whether  or  not  the  trader 
in  charge  had  any  family  or  any  associate 
they  could  not  tell,  but  on  the  door  of  the  log 
building  they  found  a  written  notice  saying 
that  he  was  gone  out  bear  hunting,  and  did 
not  know  when  he  would  return. 

"Well,  this  isn't  much  of  a  settlement, 
young  gentlemen,"  said  Alex,  laughing,  as  he 
saw  their  plight.  "But  I  think  we  can  get 
through  with  what  supplies  we  have  and  not 
trouble  the  Company  at  all." 

"  I  always  thought  there  was  a  good  trail 
from  here  to  St.  John,"  said  Rob.  "At 
least,  it's  marked  on  the  map." 

"Not  much  of  a  trail!"  said  Alex.  "I 
worked  with  the  Mounted  Police  making  trail 
from  St.  John  as  far  as  Half  Way  River.  But 
the  trail  cuts  across  the  corner  there,  and 
goes  on  up  to  Fort  Grahame,  on  the  Finlay 
River.  The  real  highway  here  is  the  river 
yonder — it's  easy  water  now  all  the  way  to 
St.  John — that  is,  it  will  be  if  we  can  get  a 
boat.  I  don't  see  any  chance  of  one  here,  and 
can  only  hope  that  Moise  and  his  '  cousins '  can 
find  that  dugout  down  below  here  somewhere. " 

228 


THE  PORTAGE  OF  THE  ROCKY  MOUNTAINS 

"If  we  were  on  the  river  down  there,  you 
wouldn't  know  there  was  any  post  here  at 
all,"  said  Jesse.  "You  can't  see  any  build- 
ings." 

"No,"  said  Alex;  "they're  too  high  up  on 
this  bench.  You  can  see  the  buildings  at  St. 
John  as  you  go  by,  because  they  are  close  to 
the  river,  and  so  you  can  at  Dunvegan.  I 
don't  imagine,  however,  we'll  want  to  stop 
anywhere  except  in  camp  this  side  of  Peace 
River  Landing.     It'll  be  fine  from  here  down. " 

"My!"  said  John,  "that  certainly  was  hard 
work,  portaging  over  that  twelve  miles  there. 
They  ought  to  have  horses  and  carts,  I  should 
say." 

"Hard  to  use  'em  in  here,"  smiled  Alex. 
"As  it  is,  it's  better  than  trying  to  run  the 
canon.  No  one  ever  did  get  through  there, 
so  far  as  ever  I  heard." 

"  Yes,"  said  Rob,  "  Sir  Alexander  Mackenzie 
must  have  come  up  through  the  canon,  ac- 
cording to  his  story.  That  is,  he  must  have 
followed  the  big  bend  around,  although,  of 
course,  he  had  to  take  his  boat  out  and  carry  it 
through  the  roughest  kind  of  country.  That 
was  worse  than  our  portage  here,  and  no  man 
can  tell  how  they  made  it  through,  from  all 
you  can  learn  through  his  story  about  it.  You 
see,  they  didn't  know  this  country  then,  and 

229 


THE  YOUNG  ALASKANS  ON  THE  TRAIL 

had  to  learn  it  as  they  went.  If  they  had  hit 
that  canon  a  month  later  on  their  journey  the 
men  wouldn't  have  stood  it — they'd  have 
mutinied  and  killed  Mackenzie,  or  have  left 
him  and  started  home." 

Not  caring  yet  to  undertake  their  embark- 
ment  below  the  portage,  they  now  strolled 
around  here  and  there,  intending  to  wait  until 
their  friends  caught  up  with  them.  Off  to  the 
east  they  could  see,  from  among  the  short, 
choppy  hills,  a  country  which  seemed  for  the 
most  part  covered  with  continuous  growth  of 
poplars,  sometimes  broken  with  glades,  or 
open  spaces. 

"I've  never  been  west  of  the  Half  Way 
River,"  said  Alex  after  a  time,  "but  I  know 
right  where  we  are.  We  could  almost  throw 
our  boat  on  the  deck  of  the  steamboat  from 
this  bank  if  we  were  as  far  east  as  St.  John." 

"  No  steamboat  for  ours  until  we  get  to 
Peace  River  Landing,"  said  Rob. 

"That's  right,"  John  assented.  "We've 
come  through  this  far,  and  we  can  finish  the 
way  we  started — that  is,  if  the  other  fellows 
catch  up  with  us  all  right,  and  we  get  another 
boat.  How  long  since  we  left  them?  I've 
sort  of  lost  track  of  the  time." 

"Fifth  day,"  said  Rob.  "It's  about  time 
they  were  coming." 

230 


THE  PORTAGE  OF  THE  ROCKY  MOUNTAINS 

His  prediction  was  fulfilled  that  evening, 
when,  as  they  were  preparing  the  camp-fire 
for  their  supper,  they  heard  a  loud  shout  from 
the  trail  back  of  them. 

"Who's  that,  Alex?"  demanded  John. 

But  even  as  he  asked  he  had  his  answer. 
Such  excited  gesticulations,  such  cries  of 
welcome,  could  come  from  no  one  but  Moise. 

16 


XXII 

EAST    OF    THE    ROCKIES 

THE  two  boys  ran  rapidly  to  meet  Moise, 
and    overwhelmed    him   with    questions 
asked  all  at  once. 

"  How's  everything  ?"  demanded  Rob,  "  and 
where 's  Jesse?" 

"Oh,  those  boy,  she'll  been  all  right,"  said 
Moise.  "She'll  be  on  camp  seex,  h'eight  mile 
below  here,  up  above,  maybe  so.  My  cousins 
Billy  and  At-tick,  come  through  with  us — 
they'll  portage  half-way  to-day. 

"  But,  mes  amis, ' '  broke  out  Moise ;  "  there's 
your  boat!  How  you'll  got  her  through? 
S'pose  you  take  wings  an'  fly  over  those  rock, 
heinf     Mon  Dieu!" 

"We  couldn't  wait  any  longer,  Moise," 
said  Rob,  "and  we  thought  we  had  better 
be  busy  than  idle.  It  was  hard  work,  but 
Alex  carried  her  over,  and  we  didn't  have 
much  left  to  pack  except  our  rifles  and  our- 
selves." 

232 


EAST  OF  THE   ROCKIES 

"  Then  you'll  not  need  any  mans  for  help  on 
the  portage  ?  All  right.  We'll  get  some  boat 
below." 

"  How  far  is  it  back  to  your  camp,  Moise?" 
demanded  John. 

"Maybe  five,  seex  mile,  maybe  more — I'll 
not  keep  track  of  heem." 

"Can  we  go  back  there  to-night  with  you? 
I'd  like  to  see  Jess.     May  we  go,  Alex?" 

"If  you  like,"  answered  the  old  hunter, 
quietly.  "I'll  stay  here  and  sleep,  and  if  you 
care  to,  you  can  sleep  there.  I  don't  doubt 
you  will  be  glad  to  see  your  friend  again,  and 
he'll  be  glad  to  see  you." 

Tired  as  the  boys  had  been,  they  were  now 
so  excited  that  they  forgot  their  fatigue,  and 
trotted  along  close  to  Moise  as  he  now  turned 
and  struck  a  steady  pace  back  on  the  portage 
trail.  It  was  quite  dark  when  at  last  they 
came  out  on  a  high  bank  above  a  level,  at 
which  a  camp-fire  was  glowing.  John  and 
Rob  put  their  hands  to  their  mouths  and  gave 
a  loud  ' '  Halloo ! ' '  They  saw  the  smaller  of  the 
three  figures  at  the  fire  jump  to  his  feet. 
Then  came  the  answering  "Halloo!"  of  Jesse, 
who  came  scrambling  up  to  meet  them  as 
they  hurried  down. 

"You're  safe,  then,"  said  Jesse.  "Oh,  but 
I'm  glad  you  got  here  all  right." 

233 


THE  YOUNG  ALASKANS  ON  THE  TRAIL 

"We're  glad  to  meet  you  safe  and  sound, 
too,"  said  Rob.  "  Yes,  we  finished  the  trip — 
we  even  carried  our  boat  through  by  our- 
selves, and  she's  there  now  on  the  bank  of  the 
stream,  ready  to  go  on  down." 

" That's  fine,"  said  Jess.  "  These  two  men, 
the  cousins  of  Moise,  have  been  as  nice  as  you 
please.  They  said  they  could  fix  up  the 
Mary  Ann,  and  they  were  very  glad  to  have 
her — there  she  is,  all  in  a  bundle.  They  are 
taking  her  across  in  sections.  It  was  hard 
work  getting  up  the  river,  for  it  was  all  dirty 
and  high.  But  we  made  it — I  think  we 
worked  eighteen  hours  a  day  all  the  way 
round.  Moise  is  a  hustler,  all  right,  besides 
being  a  cook." 

"So  is  Alex  a  hustler,  you  may  depend," 
rejoined  Rob.  "  We  couldn't  have  two  better 
men.  Well,  here  we  are,  together  once  more, 
safe  and  sound." 

"  What's  the  programme  now,  Rob  ?"  asked 
John. 

"  We're  to  sleep  here  to-night — although  it 
doesn't  seem  as  though  we'd  have  very  many 
blankets,"  answered  Rob.  "And  then  in  the 
morning  I  suppose  Moise  would  better  go  and 
help  Alex  get  the  boat  down  to  the  river. 
But  where's  the  other  dugout  we  were  to 
have,  Moise?" 

234 


EAST  OF  THE  ROCKIES 

Moise  talked  awhile  further  with  the  two 
reticent   breeds. 

"  My  cousin  Billy,  he'll  say  there's  old  man 
about  five,  seex  mile  below  there,  an'  he'll 
got  dugout,"  he  said  at  last.  "He'll  say 
twenty  dollar  for  dugout." 

"That's  cheaper  than  Peterboroughs,"  said 
Rob,  smiling.  "Anyhow,  we've  got  to  have 
it,  because  you  can't  buy  canoes  in  shops  here 
on  the  Peace  River.  You  tell  these  two  men, 
Moise,  to  go  down  there  in  the  morning  and 
have  the  old  man,  whoever  he  is,  bring  his 
canoe  up  as  soon  as  he  can  to  the  port.  Well 
meet,  I  should  say,  about  noon  to-morrow, 
if  all  goes  well.  And  as  we're  now  through 
the  worst  of  it  and  seem  to  have  pretty  fair 
weather  yet,  I  shall  be  surprised  if  we  don't 
get  quite  a  bit  farther  east  inside  of  the  next 
twenty-four  hours." 

"Then  hurrah  for  Uncle  Dick!"  said  John. 
"  He's  somewhere  down  this  river,  and  maybe 
it  won't  be  so  very  long  before  we  run  across 
him." 

"Hurrah!  for  all  those  boy  also!"  smiled 
Moise.     "Pretty  lucky,  hein?" 


XXIII 

THE    LAND    OF    PLENTY 

ROB'S  plans  were  approved  by  Alex  and 
Moise,  and  worked  out  so  well  that  by 
noon  of  the  next  day  the  entire  party  had  re- 
assembled at  the  rendezvous.  The  Jaybird 
was  the  first  boat  to  be  loaded,  the  men  get- 
ting her  down  the  steep  bank  with  small  delay 
and  taking  a  rapid  run  of  a  couple  of  miles  or 
so  down  the  river  soon  thereafter.  After  a 
little  time  they  concluded  to  wait  for  the  other 
men  who  had  gone  down  the  river-bank  to 
secure  the  dugout  of  an  old  Indian,  who,  it 
seems,  was  known  as  Picheu,  or  the  Lynx. 

"I  don't  know  about  a  dugout,  Moise," 
said  Rob.  "There  may  be  bad  water  below 
here." 

"No,  not  very  bad  water,"  said  Moise. 
"I'll  ron  heem  on  steamboat  many  tarn! 
But  those  dugout  she'll  been  good  boat,  too. 
I  s'pose  she'll  been  twenty  foot  long  an'  carry 
thousand  pound  all  right." 

"Well,"  Rob  answered,  "that  will  do  us  as 

2^6 


THE   LAND  OF   PLENTY 

well  as  a  steamboat.  I  wonder  why  the  old 
voyageitrs  never  used  the  dugout  instead  of 
the  birch-bark — they  wouldn't  have  had  to 
mend  it  so  often,  even  if  they  couldn't  carry  it 
so  easily." 

"I'll  tell  you,  fellows,"  said  Jesse,  who  was 
rather  proud  of  his  overland  trip  by  himself, 
"the  fur  trade  isn't  what  it  used  to  be.  At 
those  posts  you  don't  see  just  furs  and  traps, 
and  men  in  blanket -coats,  and  dog-trains. 
In  the  post  here  they  had  groceries,  and  axes, 
and  calico  dresses,  and  hats,  just  like  they 
have  in  a  country  store.  I  peeked  in  through 
the  windows." 

Alex  smiled  at  them.  "You  see,"  said  he, 
"you've  been  looking  at  pictures  which  were 
made  some  time  ago  perhaps.  Or  perhaps 
they  were  made  in  the  winter-time,  and  not  in 
the  summer.  At  this  season  all  the  fur 
packets  have  gone  down  the  trail,  and  they 
don't  need  dog -trains  and  blanket  -  coats. 
You  ought  to  come  up  here  in  the  winter-time 
to  get  a  glimpse  of  the  old  scenes.  I'll  admit, 
though,  that  the  fur-posts  aren't  what  they 
were  when  I  was  a  boy.  You  can  get  any- 
thing you  like  now,  from  an  umbrella  to  a 
stick  of  toffy." 

"Where?"  asked  John,  suddenly,  amid 
general  laughter. 

237 


THE  YOUNG  ALASKANS  ON  THE  TRAIL 

"The  toffy?  I'm  sure  we'll  find  some  at 
Peace  River  Landing,  along  with  plows  and 
axes  and  sewing-machines,  and  all  that  sort 
of  thing!" 

"  But  the  people  pay  for  them  all  with  their 
furs?"  inquired  Rob. 

"For  the  most  part,  yes.  Always  in  this 
part  of  the  country  the  people  have  lived  well. 
Farther  north  the  marten  have  longer  fur,  but 
not  finer  than  you  will  find  here,  so  that  they 
bring  just  as  good  prices.  This  has  always 
been  a  meat  country — you'll  remember  how 
many  buffalo  and  elk  Mackenzie  saw.  Now, 
if  the  lynx  and  the  marten  should  disappear, 
and  if  we  had  to  go  to  farming,  it  still  would  be 
the  "Land  of  Plenty,"  I'm  thinking — that's 
what  we  used  to  call  it.  If  we  should  go  up 
to  the  top  of  these  high  banks  and  explore 
back  south  a  little  bit,  on  this  side  of  the 
Smoky,  you'd  see  some  of  the  prettiest  prairies 
that  ever  lay  out-of-doors,  all  ready  for  the 
plow.  I  suppose  my  people  some  time  will 
have  to  use  the  plow  too." 

"Yes,"  assented  Rob,  "I  remember  Mac- 
kenzie's story,  how  very  beautiful  he  found 
this  country  soon  after  he  started  west  on  his 
trip." 

"My  people,  the  Crees,  took  this  country 
from   others   long   ago,"    said   Alex,    rather 

238 


THE  LAND  OF  PLENTY 

proudly.  "They  came  up  the  old  war-trail 
from  Little  Slave  Lake  to  the  mouth  of  the 
Smoky,  where  the  Peace  River  Landing  is 
now.  They  fought  the  Beavers  and  the 
Stoneys  clear  to  the  edges  of  the  Rockies, 
where  we  are  now.  They've  held  the  land 
ever  since,  and  managed  to  make  a  living  on  it, 
with  or  without  the  white  man's  help.  Some 
of  us  will  change,  but  men  like  At-tick,  the 
old  Indian  who  brought  Jess  across  the  trail, 
and  like  old  Picheu,  below  here,  aren't  apt  to 
change  very  much." 

John  was  once  more  puzzling  at  the  map 
which  the  boys  had  made  for  themselves, 
following  the  old  Mackenzie  records.  "  I 
can't  figure  out  just  where  Mackenzie  started 
from  on  his  trip,  but  he  says  it  was  longitude 
1 1 7°  35'  *5"  latitude  560  09'.  Now,  that 
doesn't  check  up  with  our  map  at  all.  That 
would  make  his  start  not  very  far  from  the 
fort,  or  what  they  call  the  Peace  River  Land- 
ing to-day,  I  should  think.  But  he  only 
mentions  a  'small  stream  coming  from  the 
east,'  although  Moise  says  the  Smoky  is 
quite  a  river." 

"  Most  people  think  Mackenzie  started  from 
Fort  Chippewayan,"  said  Alex,  "but  as  a 
matter  of  fact,  he  wintered  far  southwest  of 
there,   on  the  Peace  River,   somewhere  be- 

239 


THE  YOUNG  ALASKANS  ON  THE  TRAIL 

tween  three  hundred  and  four  hundred  miles 
south  and  west  of  Fort  Vermilion,  as  I  gather 
from  the  length  of  time  it  took  him  to  get  to 
the  edge  of  the  Rockies,  where  we  are  now. 
He  mentions  the  banks  getting  higher  as  he 
went  south  and  west.  When  you  get  a  couple 
of  hundred  miles  north  of  the  Landing  the 
banks  begin  to  get  low,  although  at  the  Land- 
ing they're  still  almost  a  thousand  feet  high 
above  the  water-level,  at  least  eight  hundred 
feet,  I  should  say." 

"Well,"  said  Rob,  "we  know  something 
about  this  country  ourselves  now,  and  we'll 
make  a  map  of  it  some  time,  perhaps — a  better 
one  than  we  have  now. ' ' 

"Yes,"  said  Jesse,  "but  who  can  draw  in 
that  horse-trail  from  Hudson's  Hope  to  the 
head  of  the  steamboat  transport?  I'd  like 
to  see  that  trail!" 

"  I  suppose  we  could  get  on  the  steamboat 
some  time  before  long  if  we  wanted  to,"  said 
John. 

"No,"  said  Alex,  "hardly  again  this  sum- 
mer, for  she's  made  her  last  trip  with  supplies 
up  to  Fort  St.  John  by  now." 

"We  don't  want  any  steamboat,  nor  any- 
thing else,"  said  Rob,  "except  to  go  on  down 
on  our  own  hook,  the  way  we  started.  Let's 
be  as  wild  as  we  can!" 

240 


THE   LAND   OF   PLENTY 

"We're  apt  to  see  more  game  from  here 
down  than  we  have  any  place  on  the  trip," 
said  Alex.  "  You  know,  I  told  you  this  was 
the  Land  of  Plenty." 

"Bimeby  plenty  bear,"  said  Moise.  "This 
boy  Billy,  he'll  tol'  me  ol'  Picheu  he'll  keel 
two  bear  this  last  week,  an'  he'll  say  plenty 
bear  now  all  on  river,  on  the  willows." 

"Well,  at  any  rate,"  said  Alex,  "old  Picheu 
himself  is  coming." 

"How  do  you  know?"  asked  Jesse. 

"I  hear  the  setting-pole." 

Presently,  as  Alex  had  said,  the  dugout 
showed  its  nose  around  the  bend.  At-tick  and 
Billy,  Jesse's  two  friends,  were  on  the  tracking 
line,  and  in  the  stern  of  the  dugout,  doing 
most  of  the  labor  of  getting  up-stream,  was  an 
old,  wrinkle-faced,  gray-haired  and  gray- 
bearded  man,  old  Picheu  himself,  in  his  time 
one  of  the  most  famous  among  the  hunters  of 
the  Crees,  as  the  boys  later  learned.  He  spoke 
no  English,  but  stood  like  some  old  Japanese 
war-god  on  the  bank,  looking  intently  from 
one  to  the  other  as  they  now  finished  their 
preparations  for  re-embarking.  He  seemed 
glad  to  take  the  money  which  Rob  paid  him 
for  the  dugout  and  shook  hands  pleasantly  all 
around,  to  show  his  satisfaction. 

The  boys  saw  that  what  Moise  had  said 
241 


THE  YOUNG  ALASKANS  ON  THE  TRAIL 

about  the  dugout  was  quite  true.  It  was  a 
long  craft,  hewed  out  of  a  single  log,  which 
looked  at  first  crankier  than  it  really  was. 
It  had  great  carrying  capacity,  and  the  boys 
put  a  good  part  of  the  load  in  it,  which  seemed 
only  to  steady  it  the  more.  It  was  determined 
that  Rob  and  Moise  should  go  ahead  in  this 
boat,  as  they  previously  had  done  in  the 
Mary  Ann,  the  others  to  follow  with  the 
Jaybird. 

Soon  all  the  camp  equipment  was  stowed 
aboard,  and  the  men  stood  at  the  edge  of  the 
water  ready  to  start.  Their  old  friends  made 
no  comment  and  expressed  little  concern  one 
way  or  the  other,  but  as  Rob  turned  when  he 
was  on  the  point  of  stepping  into  the  lead- 
ing boat  he  saw  Billy  standing  at  the  edge  of 
the  water.  He  spoke  some  brief  word  to 
Alex. 

"He  wants  to  say  to  Mr.  Jess,"  interpreted 
Alex,  "that  he  would  like  to  make  him  a 
present  of  this  pair  of  moccasins,  if  he  would 
take  them  from  him." 

"Would  I  take  them!"  exclaimed  Jesse;  "I 
should  say  I  would,  and  thank  him  for  them 
very  much.  I'd  like  to  give  him  something 
of  mine,  this  handkerchief,  maybe,  for  him  to 
remember  me  by." 

"He  says,"   continued  Alex,    "that  when 
242 


THE  LAND  OF  PLENTY 

you  get  home  he  wishes  you  would  write  to 
him  in  care  of  the  priest  at  St.  John.  He  says 
he  hopes  you'll  have  plenty  of  shooting  down 
the  river.  He  says  he  would  like  to  go  to  the 
States  when  he  gets  rich.  He  says  his  people 
will  talk  about  you  all  around  the  camp-fire, 
a  great  many  times,  telling  how  you  crossed 
the  mountains,  where  so  few  white  men  ever 
have  been." 

"I'll  tell  you  what,  boys,"  said  Rob,  "let's 
line  up  and  give  them  all  a  cheer." 

So  the  three  boys  stood  in  a  row  at  the 
water-side,  after  they  had  shaken  hands  once 
more  with  the  friends  they  were  leaving,  and 
gave  them  three  cheers  and  a  tiger,  waving 
their  hats  in  salutation.  Even  old  Picheu 
smiled  happily  at  this.  Then  the  boys  sprang 
aboard,  and  the  boats  pushed  out  into  the 
current. 


XXIV 

THE    WHITE    MAN'S    COUNTRY 

THEY  were  passing  now  between  very 
high  banks,  broken  now  and  then  by 
rock  faces.  The  currents  averaged  extremely 
strong,  and  there  were  at  times  runs  of  rough- 
ish  water.  But  gradually  the  stream  now  was 
beginning  to  widen  and  to  show  an  occasional 
island,  so  that  on  the  whole  they  found  their 
journey  less  dangerous  than  it  had  been  before. 
The  dugout,  although  not  very  light  under  the 
paddle,  proved  very  tractable,  and  made  a 
splendid  boat  for  this  sort  of  travel. 

"You'd  think  from  the  look  of  this  coun- 
try," said  John  to  Alex,  "that  we  were  the 
first  ever  to  cross  it." 

"  No, "  said  the  old  hunter,  "  I  wish  we  were ; 
but  that  is  far  from  the  truth  to-day.  This 
spring,  before  I  started  west  to  meet  you, 
there  were  a  dozen  wagons  passed  through  the 
Landing  on  one  day — every  one  of  them  with  a 
plow  lashed  to  the  wagon-box.  The  farmers 
are  coming.     If  you  should  stop  at  Dunvegan 

244 


THE  WHITE  MAN'S  COUNTRY 

you'd  hardly  know  you  were  in  Mackenzie's 
old  country,  I'm  afraid.  And  now  the  buffalo 
and  the  elk  are  all  gone,  where  there  used  to 
be  so  many.  It  is  coming  now  to  be  the  white 
man's  country." 

"You'll  have  to  come  up  to  Alaska,  where 
we  live,  Alex,"  said  John.  "We've  got 
plenty  of  wild  country  back  inside  of  Alaska 
yet.  But  even  there  the  outside  hunters  are 
killing  off  the  bear  and  moose  mighty  fast." 

"Yes,"  said  Alex,  "for  sport,  for  their 
heads,  and  not  for  the  meat!  My  people  kill 
for  meat  alone,  and  they  could  live  here  for- 
ever and  the  game  would  still  be  as  thick  as 
ever  it  was.  It's  the  whites  who  destroy  the 
new  countries." 

"I'm  beginning  to  like  this  country  more 
and  more,"  said  Jesse,  frankly.  "  Back  in  the 
mountains  sometimes  I  was  pretty  badly 
scared,  the  water  roared  so  much  all  the  time. 
But  here  the  country  looks  easier,  and  the 
water  isn't  so  strong.  I  think  we'll  have  the 
best  part  of  our  trip  now." 

At  that  instant  the  sound  of  a  rifle-shot  rang 
out  from  some  point  below  them  on  the  river. 
The  dugout  had  just  swung  out  of  sight  around 
the  bend.  "That's  Rob's  rifle!"  exclaimed 
John. 

"  Very  likely, "said  Alex.  "  Bear,  I  suppose." 
245 


THE  YOUNG  ALASKANS  ON  THE  TRAIL 

The  crew  of  the  Jaybird  bent  to  their  pad- 
dles and  presently  passed  in  turn  about  the 
sharp  bend  and  came  up  alongside  the  dugout, 
which  lay  along  shore  in  some  slack  water. 
Rob  was  looking  a  trifle  shamefaced. 

"  Did  you  miss  him  ?"  asked  John,  excitedly. 

"Well,"  said  Rob,  "I  suppose  you'd  call  it 
a  miss — he  was  running  up  the  bank  there 
about  half  a  mile  away.  You  can  see  him 
going  yet,  for  that  matter." 

Sure  enough,  they  could,  the  animal  by  this 
time  seeming  not  larger  than  a  dog  as  it 
scrambled  up  among  the  bushes  on  the  top  of 
the  steep  precipice  which  lined  the  bank  of 
the  river. 

"  He  must  have  been  feeding  somewhere 
below,"  said  Rob,  "and  I  suppose  heard  us 
talking.  He  ran  up  that  bank  pretty  fast. 
I  didn't  know  it  was  so  hard  to  shoot  from  a 
moving  boat.     Anyhow,  I  didn't  get  him." 

"He'll  was  too  far  off,"  said  Moise.  "But 
those  boy  she'll  shoot  right  on  his  foot  all  the 
time.     I  think  she'll  hit  him  there." 

"  Never  mind,  Mr.  Rob,"  said  Alex.  "  We've 
got  plenty  of  river  below  us,  and  we're  sure  to 
see  more  bear.  This  river  is  one  of  the  best 
countries  for  black  bear  there  is  this  side  of  the 
Hay  or  the  Liard." 

Both  boats  proceeded  at  a  leisurely  pace 
246 


THE   WHITE   MAN'S   COUNTRY 

for  the  remainder  of  this  stage,  no  one  being 
anxious  to  complete  the  journey  to  the  Peace 
River  Landing  any  earlier  than  was  necessary, 
for  the  journey  down  the  river  was  of  itself 
interesting  and  pleasant.  All  the  landscape 
continued  green,  although  it  was  late  in  the 
summer.  The  water,  however,  was  now  less 
brilliant  and  clear  than  it  had  been  in  the 
mountains,  and  had  taken  on  a  brownish 
stain. 

They  encamped  that  night  at  a  little  bench 
which  came  down  to  the  river  and  offered  an 
ideal  place  for  their  bivouac.  Tall  pines  stood 
all  about,  and  there  was  little  undergrowth  to 
harbor  mosquitoes,  although  by  this  time,  in- 
deed, that  pest  of  the  Northland  was  pretty 
much  gone.  The  feeling  of  depression  they 
sometimes  had  known  in  the  big  mountains 
had  now  left  the  minds  of  our  young  travelers, 
and  they  were  disposed,  since  they  found 
themselves  well  within  reach  of  their  goal,  to 
take  their  time  and  enjoy  themselves. 

"Moise,  tell  us  another  story,"  demanded 
Jesse,  after  they  had  finished  their  evening 
meal. 

"  What  kind  of  story  you'll  want  ?"  inquired 
Moise. 

"  I  think  we'd  rather  have  something  about 
your  own  country,  about  animals,  the  same 
17  247 


THE  YOUNG  ALASKANS  ON  THE  TRAIL 

as  you  told  us  back  in  the  mountains,  per- 
haps." 

"  Well,"  said  Moise,  "I'll  told  you  the  story 
of  how  the  ermine  he'll  got  the  end  of  his  tail 
black." 


XXV 

HOW    THE    ERMINE    GOT    HIS    TAIL    BLACK 

ENG  tarn  'go,"  said  Moise,  "before  my 
onkle  he'll  been  born,  all  peoples  lived 
in  the  woods,  and  there  was  no  Companee 
here  for  trade.  In  those  day  there  was  no 
tobacco  an'  no  rifle — those  was  long  tarn  'go 
— I  don'  know  how  long. 

"  In  those  tarn  all  the  people  he'll  talk  with 
Wiesacajac,  an'  Wiesacajac  he'll  be  friendly  all 
tarn  with  these  peoples.  All  the  animal  that'll 
live  in  the  wood  he'll  do  all  right,  too.  Only 
one  animal  he  was  bad  animal,  and  those  was 
what  you  call  wissel  (weasel).  This  wissel  is 
what  you  call  ermine  some  tarn.  He'll  be 
mighty  smart  animal.  In  summer-tarn,  when 
grass  an'  rock  is  brown,  he'll  go  aroun'  brown, 
sam  as  the  rock  an'  the  leaf.  In  summer-tam 
the  wissel  he'll  caught  the  hare  an'  the  par- 
tridge, an'  he'll  live  pretty  good,  heem. 

"Now,  in  the  winter-tam  most  all  the 
animals  in  the  wood  he'll  go  white.  Those 
hare,  he'll  get  white  just  same  color  as  the 

249 


THE  YOUNG  ALASKANS  ON  THE  TRAIL 

snow.  Those  pichcu,  those  lynx,  he'll  get 
gray,  almost  white.  The  ptarmigan,  he'll 
get  white,  too,  so  those  owl  won'  see  heem  on 
the  snow;  an'  the  owl  he'll  get  white,  so  noth- 
ing will  see  heem  when  he  goes  on  the  snow. 
Some  tarn  up  north  the  wolf  he'll  be  white  all 
over,  an'  some  fox  he'll  also  be  white  all  same 
as  the  snow. 

"  But  the  Cigous,  or  wissel,  he'll  stay  brown, 
with  white  streak  on  his  neck,  same  like  he'll 
been  in  the  summer-tam.  When  he'll  go  on 
the  hont,  those  rabbeet,  she'll  saw  Cigous  come, 
an'  he'll  ron  off,  so  Cigous  he'll  go  hongree. 

11  Now,  Cigous  he'll  get  this  on  his  min',  an' 
he'll  sit  down  one  tarn  an'  he'll  make  a  pray 
to  Kitchai-Manitou,  an'  also  to  Wiesacajac, 
an'  he'll  pray  that  some  tarn  he'll  be  white  in 
the  winter-tam,  the  same  as  the  snow,  the 
same  as  those  other  animal,  so  he'll  catch  the 
meat  an'  not  go  hongree. 

"'Oh,  Wiesacajac,'  he'll  pray,  'what  for 
you'll  make  me  dark  this  a-way,  when  I'll 
been  hongree?     Have  pity  on  me!' 

"Well,  Wiesacajac,  he'll  been  kin'  in  his 
heart,  an'  he'll  hear  those  Cigous  pray,  an' 
he'll  say,  'My  frien',  I  s'pose  you'll  not  got 
any  meat,  an'  you'll  ask  me  to  take  pity  on 
you.  The  reason  why  I'll  not  make  you  white 
like  other  animal  is,  you'll  been  such  thief! 

250 


HOW  THE  ERMINE  GOT  HIS  TAIL   BLACK 

Oh,  Cigous,  s'pose  you'll  go  live  two  week  all 
right,  an'  not  steal,  an'  not  tell  any  lie  to  me, 
then  I'll  make  you  white,  all  same  like  other 
animals.' 

'"Oh,  Wiesacajac,'  say  Cigous,  'it's  ver' 
hard  to  be  good  for  two  week  an'  not  steal,  an' 
not  tell  lie.     But  I'll  try  to  do  this  thing,  me!' 

"  Now,  in  two  week  all  the  family  of  Cigous 
he'll  not  got  anything  to  eat,  an'  he'll  almost 
starve,  an'  he'll  come  in  out  of  the  woods  an' 
sit  aroun'  on  the  village  where  the  people  live. 
But  all  the  people  can  see  Cigous  an'  his  fam- 
ily because  he'll  all  be  brown,  an'  he'll  show 
on  the  snow,  plain. 

"Now,  Cigous  he'll  got  very  hongree,  an' 
he'll  got  under  the  blanket  in  the  lodge  where 
the  people  live.  Bimeby  he'll  smell  some- 
thing cook  on  the  fire.  Then  he'll  go  out  in 
the  bush,  an'  he'll  pray  again  to  Wiesacajac, 
an'  he'll  say, '  Oh,  Wiesacajac,  I'm  almost  white 
now,  so  I  can  get  meat.  But  it's  ver'  hard 
tarn  for  me!' 

"  Wiesacajac,  he'll  tol'  heem  to  go  back  in 
an'  not  lie  an'  not  steal,  an'  then  see  what  he'll 
got. 

" Cigous,  he'll  been  happy  this  tarn,  an'  he'll 
go  back  on  the  lodge  an'  smell  that  cooking 
some  more.  He'll  not  know  it,  but  by  this 
tarn  Wiesacajac  has  made  heem  all  white,  tail 

251 


THE  YOUNG  ALASKANS  ON  THE  TRAIL 

an'  all.  But  Cigons  he'll  smell  something 
cook  in  the  pot,  an'  he'll  say, '  I  wonder  what  is 
cook  in  that  pot  on  the  fire.' 

"He'll  couldn't  stan'  up  high  to  reach  his 
foots  in  the  pot,  so  he  say,  '  Ah,  ha !  My  tail 
he's  longer  than  my  foots.  I'll  stick  my  tail 
in  the  pot,  an'  see  what  is  cook  that  smells  so 
good.' 

"  Now,  Cigous  not  know  his  tail  is  all  white 
then.  But  Wiesacajac,  he'll  see  Cigous  all 
the  tarn,  an'  he'll  turn  the  meat  in  the  pot  into 
pitch,  and  make  it  boil  strong;  so  Cigous  when 
he'll  stick  his  tail  in  the  pot,  he'll  stick  it  in  the 
pitch,  an'  when  he'll  pull  out  the  end  of  his  tail, 
the  end  of  it  will  be  all  black! 

"Then  Cigous  he'll  go  out  on  the  snow,  an' 
he'll  look  aroun',  an'  bimeby  Wiesacajac  he'll 
seen  heem  an'  he'll  say,  'Ah,  Cigous,  what's  on 
your  tail,  because  I'll  see  it  is  all  black  on  the 
end?' 

"  Cigous  he'll  turn  aroun'  an'  ron  aroun'  an' 
aroun'  on  a  reeng,  but  all  the  tarn  he'll  see 
the  black  spot  on  his  tail,  an'  it  won't  come 
off. 

"'Now,  Cigous,'  says  Wiesacajac,  'I'll  been 
good  spirit,  else  surely  I'll  punish  you  plenty 
for  stealing  when  you  tol'  me  you'll  be  good 
animal.  Already  I'll  made  you  white,  all  but 
your  tail.     Now  that  the  people  may  always 

252 


HOW  THE   ERMINE   GOT  HIS  TAIL   BLACK 

know  you  for  a  thief,  you  an'  all  your  family 
must  have  black  spot  on  tail  in  the  winter-tam. 
I  would  make  you  black  all  over,  Cigous,  but  I 
have  take  pity  on  your  family,  who  must  not 
starve.  Maybe  so  you  could  caught  meat, 
but  all  the  tarn  your  tail  will  mark  you  for  a 
thief!' 

"From  that  time,"  said  Moise,  concluding, 
"the  ermine,  Cigous,  has  always  been  a  good 
honter.  But  always  he's  brown  in  the  sum- 
mer-tarn, an'  in  the  winter-tam  he  isn't  not 
quite  white.  That  is  because  he  is  such  thief. 
I  know  this  is  so,,  because  my  onkle  she'll  tol' 
me.     I  have  finish." 


XXVI 

TRAILING    THE    BEAR 

I'LL  tell  you  what,"  said  John,  in  the 
morning,  as  they  still  lingered  at  their 
pleasant  camp;  "we're  not  apt  to  have  a 
much  nicer  stopping  place  than  this,  so  why 
not  make  a  little  hunt,  and  come  back  here 
to-night?" 

"Not  a  bad  idea,"  said  Alex. 

"What's  the  best  way  to  plan  it  out?" 
asked  John.  "  Ought  we  to  go  by  boats  down 
the  river,  and  then  come  back  here?" 

"  I  would  suggest  that  Moise  and  Rob  take 
the  dugout  and  go  down  the  river  a  little  way, ' ' 
replied  Alex,  "and  that  you  and  I  and  Jess 
climb  to  the  top  of  the  bank,  taking  our  time, 
to  see  if  we  could  find  any  moose  sign,  or 
maybe  a  bear  trail  in  the  country  back  from 
the  river.  In  that  way  we  could  cover  both 
the  top  and  bottom  of  the  valley.  We  might 
find  a  grizzly  higher  up,  although  we  are  out 
of  the  grizzly  country  here  by  rights." 

254 


TRAILING  THE   BEAR 

This  plan  suggested  by  Alex  was  followed 
out,  and  at  no  very  late  hour  in  the  morning 
camp  was  deserted  by  our  travelers,  whose 
hunting  spirit  seemed  still  unabated.  They 
did  not  meet  again  until  almost  dusk.  Alex 
and  his  companions  found  no  fresh  game  trails 
on  the  heights  above,  and,  in  short,  concluded 
their  hunt  rather  early  in  the  afternoon  and 
returned  to  camp,  where  they  remained  for 
some  hours  before  at  length  they  saw  the 
dugout,  which  the  boys  had  christened  The 
Plug,  slowly  making  its  way  up  the  river. 

John  and  Jesse,  themselves  pretty  tired  from 
their  long  walk,  summoned  up  energy  enough 
to  go  down  to  the  beach  and  peer  into  the 
dugout.  They  saw  no  sign  of  any  game. 
They  did  not,  however,  ask  any  questions, 
for  they  were  learning  the  dignity  of  Indian 
hunters.  Alex  looked  at  Moise,  but  asked 
him  no  question.  He  noticed  that  Moise 
was  whistling,  and  apparently  not  very  un- 
happy, as  after  a  time  he  went  about  making 
his  evening  fire. 

"So  you  didn't  get  any  bear,  Mr.  Rob?" 
said  Alex  at  last. 

"No,  not  quite,"  said  Rob,  "but  I  ought  to 
have  got  one — I  had  a  pretty  fair  shot,  al- 
though it  was  rather  dark  where  the  bear  was 
standing." 

255 


THE  YOUNG  ALASKANS  ON  THE  TRAIL 

Alex  spoke  a  few  words  to  Moise  in  the  Cree 
language. 

"Never  mind,"  said  he  to  Rob  at  length. 
"We'll  get  him  to-morrow  very  easily." 

"So  Moise  said  to  me;  but  I  don't  see  how 
he  knows.  The  bear  started  off  as  though 
he  weren't  hit  at  all.  He  came  down  to  the 
edge  of  the  wood  at  a  high  bank  and  looked 
right  at  us  when  we  were  pulling  the  boat  up 
the  stream.  You  know,  the  canoe  is  rather 
teetery,  but  I  shot  as  well  as  I  could,  and 
thought  I  hit  him.  He  turned  around,  and  I 
shot  at  him  again.  But  he  didn't  stop.  Moise 
thought  we  had  better  come  on  in  because  it 
was  so  late." 

"Sure,"  said  Moise,  "I'll  tol'  those  boy 
he'll  shoot  those  bear  two  tam,  once  in  the 
front  an'  once  in  the  back.  With  those 
rifle,  he'll  not  go  far.  To-morrow  we'll  catch 
heem  easy." 

"He  was  a  big  bear,  too,"  said  Rob,  "al- 
though not  as  big  as  our  grizzly — just  a  black 
bear,  that's  all.  I  don't  like  to  cripple  any 
animal  and  then  lose  it." 

"I  don't  think  we'll  lose  this  one,"  said 
Alex,   reassuringly. 

The  judgment  of  the  old  hunters  proved  to 
be  correct,  for  on  the  next  day,  when  all  hands 
dropped  down  the  river  to  the  point  where 

256 


TRAILING  THE   BEAR 

Rob  had  shot  at  the  bear,  it  was  not  five 
minutes  before  they  found  the  trail  where  a 
considerable  amount  of  blood  showed  that 
the  bear  had  been  badly  wounded.  At  once 
they  began  to  follow  this  trail  back  into  the 
high  country  away  from  the  river. 

Alex  did  not  ask  any  questions,  and  there 
was  little  talk  between  him  and  Moise.  Moise, 
however,  took  the  lead  on  the  trail.  Alex  did 
not  even  carry  his  rifle,  but  loitered  along, 
picking  berries  and  enjoying  himself,  after  his 
own  fashion. 

"Keep  close  up  to  Moise,  young  gentle- 
men," he  said.  "This  bear,  although  only  a 
black  bear,  is  apt  to  be  very  ugly  if  you  find 
him  still  alive.  If  he  comes  for  you,  kill  him 
quick.  I  doubt,  however,  very  much  whether 
he  will  be  alive  when  we  come  up  with  him." 

"How  do  you  know  about  that,  Alex?" 
demanded  John. 

"It's  our  business  to  know  about  such 
things,"  answered  Alex,  smiling. 

All  the  boys  now  could  see  where  the  bear 
had  scrambled  up  the  bank,  and  where  it  had 
gone  through  the  bushes  on  its  way  to  the 
forest,  leaving  a  plain  blood  trail  on  the 
ground. 

"Moise  will  lead  on  the  trail,"  said  Alex. 
"He's  more  Injun  than  I  am.     In  some  ways 

257 


THE  YOUNG  ALASKANS  ON  THE  TRAIL 

I  can  beat  him,  in  others  he  can  beat  me.     He 
is  one  of  the  best  trailers  on  the  river." 

Moise  now  was  a  different  man  from  the 
talkative  companion  of  the  camp.  He  was 
very  silent,  and  advanced  cautiously  along  the 
trail,  his  eyes  studying  every  record  of  the 
ground  and  cover  which  had  been  left  by  the 
wounded  animal.  Once  in  a  while  he  pointed 
silently  to  a  broken  bush  or  to  a  drop  of 
blood.  After  a  while  he  stopped  and  pointed 
to  a  tree  whose  bark  was  ripped  off. 

"Heem  awful  mad,"  whispered  Moise. 
"S'pose  you'll  seen  heem  here,  he'll  fight  sure. 
He'll  bite  all  the  tree  an'  fight  the  bush." 

After  a  while  Alex  showed  them  a  deep 
excavation  in  the  soft  dirt. 

"He'll  dig  hole  here  an'  lie  down,"  said 
Moise.     "Plenty  mad  now,  sure!" 

They  kept  on  after  the  trail,  following  it 
deeper  into  the  forest  and  higher  up  the  slope, 
minute  after  minute,  for  a  time  which  seemed 
short,  but  which  really  was  over  an  hour  and  a 
half  in  extent.  Moise  still  remained  silent 
and  not  in  the  least  excited,  and  Alex  still 
continued  to  pick  his  berries  and  eat  them 
leisurely  as  he  followed  along  in  the  rear. 
Once  they  lost  the  trail  on  an  open  hillside 
covered  with  wintergreen  plants,  and  the 
boys    thought    the   hunt    was    over.     Moise 

258 


TRAILING  THE  BEAR 

however,  swung  around  like  a  hound  on  the 
trail,  clear  to  the  other  side  of  the  hill,  and  in 
the  course  of  a  few  minutes  picked  up  the 
spoor  again  when  it  struck  softer  ground 
beyond.  They  passed  on  then,  moving  up- 
ward deeper  into  the  forest  for  some  minutes, 
until  at  length  Moise  turned  about. 

"  About  five  minute  now,  we'll  found  heem, ' ' 
said  he,  quietly. 

"How  does  he  know,  Alex?"  demanded 
Jesse,  who  was  farther  to  the  rear. 

11  Easy  enough,"  answered  Alex.  "  He  says 
the  bear  has  lain  down  ten  times  now,  and  he 
would  not  do  that  unless  he  was  very  weak. 
He  would  travel  as  far  as  he  could.  Now  he  is 
lying  down  very  often.  I'm  sorry,  but  I 
don't  think  we'll  get  any  fight  out  of  this  bear. 
Moise  thinks  you'll  find  him  dead." 

Surely  enough,  they  had  hardly  gone  an- 
other hundred  yards  before  Moise,  stepping 
back  quietly,  pointed  through  an  opening  in 
the  bushes.  There,  lying  before  them  in  a 
little  glade,  lay  a  vast,  black  body,  motionless. 

Rob  grounded  his  rifle-butt,  almost  in  dis- 
appointment, but  later  expressed  his  satis- 
faction. 

"Now,  boys,  I  got  him,"  said  he,  "and  I 
guess  it's  just  as  well  he  didn't  have  to  wait 
till  now  for  us  to  come.     But  speaking  of 

259 


THE  YOUNG  ALASKANS  ON  THE  TRAIL 

trailing,  Moise,  you  certainly  know  your 
business." 

"Oh  yes,"  said  Moise,  "every  man  in  this 
country  he'll  mus'  know  how  to  trail,  else  he'll 
go  hongree  some  tarn.  My  onkle  she'll 
taught  me  how  for  follow  trail." 

"Well,"  said  Alex,  "here's  some  more  meat 
to  get  down  to  the  boat,  I  suppose,  and  we 
need  meat  badly,  too.  We  ought  not  to 
waste  it,  but  if  we  take  it  all  on  board  we'll 
have  to  hurry  to  get  down  to  Peace  River 
Landing  with  it,  because  it  is  more  than  we 
can  possibly  eat." 

The  two  older  hunters  now  drew  their  big 
buffalo  knives  and  fell  to  work  skinning  and 
dismembering  the  carcass  of  the  bear,  the 
boys  helping  as  they  could.  It  was  plainly 
the  intention  of  Alex  and  Moise  to  make  one 
trip  with  meat  and  hide. 

In  order  to  carry  the  green  bear  hide — 
always  a  slippery  and  awkward  thing  to 
pack — Moise  now  showed  a  little  device  often 
practised,  as  he  said,  among  the  Crees.  He 
cut  two  sharpened  sticks,  each  about  a  couple 
of  feet  in  length,  and  placing  these  down  on 
the  hide,  folded  the  hide  around  them,  so  that  it 
made  a  sharp,  four-cornered  pack.  He  lashed 
the  hide  tightly  inside  these  four  corners,  and 
then  lifting  it  up  and  down,  smilingly  showed 

260 


TRAILING  THE   BEAR 

the  boys  that  the  green  hide  now  would  not 
slip,  but  would  remain  in  place,  thus  making  a 
much  better  pack.  He  slung  his  belt  at  the 
corners  of  the  pack,  and  then  motioned  to 
Alex  to  throw  up  on  top  of  his  pack  one  of  the 
hams  of  the  bear  which  had  been  detached 
from  the  carcass.  When  Moise  got  his  load 
he  started  off  at  a  trot,  taking  a  course  differ- 
ent from  that  on  which  they  had  come. 

Alex  in  turn  used  his  belt  and  some  thongs 
he  had  in  making  a  pack  of  the  remainder  of 
the  meat,  which,  heavy  as  it  seemed,  he 
managed  to  shoulder,  leaving  the  boys  nothing 
to  carry  except  the  skull  of  the  bear,  which 
they  had  expressed  a  wish  to  retain  with  the 
robe. 

"  Do  you  suppose  we'll  ever  get  to  be  men  as 
strong  as  that?"  asked  Rob  in  a  whisper, 
pointing  to  the  solitary  figure  of  the  breed 
now  passing  rapidly  down  the  slope. 

"I  didn't  know  anybody  was  so  strong," 
admitted  Jesse.  "They  must  be  pretty  good 
men,  I'm  thinking." 

"But  which  way  are  they  going?"  asked 
John.     "  Do  you  suppose  they're  lost  ?" 

"We'll  follow  and  see,"  answered  Rob. 
"They  seem  to  know  their  own  way  pretty 
well." 

They  now  kept  Alex  in  sight,  and  in  the 
261 


THE  YOUNG  ALASKANS  ON  THE  TRAIL 

course  of  about  fifteen  or  twenty  minutes 
came  up  with  Moise,  who  was  sitting  down, 
resting  his  back  against  the  root  of  a  tree. 

"  I  suppose  you'll  know  where  we  are  now  ?" 
he  asked  of  Rob. 

Rob  shook  his  head.  "No,  I  don't  recog- 
nize the  place." 

Moise  pointed  with  a  thumb  to  a  point  just 
back  of  the  tree.  Rob  stepped  over,  and  gaz- 
ing down,  saw  a  deep  hole  in  the  ground. 

"Why,  I  know!"  said  he.  "This  is  one  of 
the  holes  the  bear  dug — one  of  the  first  ones, 
I  should  think." 

"Oh,  I  see,  you  cut  across-lots  and  didn't 
follow  the  back  trail."  John  was  as  much 
surprised  as  Rob. 

"No,"  said  Alex,  "we  saved  perhaps  half  a 
mile  by  coming  straight  across,  for,  you  see, 
the  bear  was  wandering  all  around  on  the 
hillside  as  he  was  trying  to  get  away.  You'll 
find  the  boats  are  directly  below  us  here,  and 
not  very  far  away." 

"This,"  said   Rob,  "seems   to   me   pretty 

wonderful !     You  men  certainly  do  know  how 

to   get   along   in   this   country.        I'd   never 

have  thought  this  was  the  direct  course,  and 

if  I  had  been  in  there  alone  I  certainly  would 

have  followed  the  bear's  trail  back — if  I  could 

have  found  it." 

262 


TRAILING  THE   BEAR 

Yet  it  all  came  out  quite  as  Alex  and  Moise 
had  planned,  for  in  less  than  ten  minutes  more 
they  scrambled  down  the  steep  bank  to  the 
rocky  beach  where  the  two  boats  lay.  The 
men  distributed  the  hide  and  meat  between 
the  two,  covering  up  both  with  green  willow 
boughs. 

"Now,"  said  Alex,  "for  a  fast  run  down 
this  river.  We've  got  more  meat  than  we  can 
use,  and  we  must  get  to  the  Landing." 

18 


XXVII 

THE    END    OF    THE    OLD    WAR-TRAIL 

IT  is  possible  to  make  twenty-five  miles  a 
day  with  pole  and  tracking  -  line  against 
a  current  even  so  strong  as  that  of  the  Peace 
River.  Twice  or  thrice  that  distance  down- 
stream is  much  easier,  so  that  no  greatly 
difficult  journey  remained  ahead  of  our  trav- 
elers between  their  last  camp  and  the  old 
Hudson  Bay  post  known  as  Peace  River 
Landing,  which  perhaps  Moise  would  have 
called  the  end  of  the  old  war-trail  from  Little 
Slave  Lake — the  point  near  the  junction  of 
the  Peace  and  Smoky  rivers  which  has  in  it 
so  much  strategic  value,  whether  in  war  or  in 
peace.  The  two  boats,  pausing  only  for  the 
briefest  possible  encampments,  now  swung  on 
down,  day  after  day,  not  pausing  at  the  ulti- 
mate western  settlements,  St.  John  and  Dun- 
vegan,  but  running  on  down,  between  high 
and  steep  banks,  through  a  country  clean  and 
beautiful  with  its  covering  of  poplar  growth. 
At  last,  well  wearied  with  steady  paddling, 

264 


THE   END  OF  THE   OLD  WAR-TRAIL 

they  opened  up  a  great  "V"  in  the  valley,  so 
that  they  knew  they  were  at  the  junction  of 
the  Smoky  and  the  Peace,  and  hence  at  the  end 
of  this  stage  of  their  journey. 

It  was  evening  at  the  time  of  their  arrival, 
and  Rob  was  much  for  finishing  the  journey 
that  day,  yet  yielded  to  the  wish  of  Moise, 
who  thought  it  would  be  better  to  camp  some 
few  miles  above  the  town,  although  almost 
within  sight  of  the  great  ferry  which  here 
crosses  the  main  river  from  the  wagon  trail 
of  the  north  bank. 

"We'll  must  go  in  like  real  voyageurs," 
insisted  Moise.  "  We'll  not  look  good  to  go  in 
to-night — too  much  tire  an'  dirt." 

In  the  morning  Moise  appeared  at  the 
breakfast  table  attired  in  his  best.  He  had  in 
some  way  managed  a  clean  shave,  and  now  his 
long,  black  hair  was  bound  back  with  a  gaudy 
handkerchief,  his  old  shirt  replaced  by  a  new 
and  bright  one,  and  his  old  moccasins  dis- 
carded for  a  pair  of  new  and  brilliantly  beaded 
ones,  so  that  in  all  he  made  a  brave  figure  of  a 
voyageur  indeed.  Alex  also  in  a  quiet  way 
had  followed  the  lead  of  Moise.  The  boys 
themselves,  falling  into  the  spirit  of  this, 
hunted  through  their  war-bags  for  such  finery 
as  they  could  compass,  and  decked  themselves 
out  in  turn  with  new  moccasins,  new  gloves, 

265 


THE  YOUNG  ALASKANS  ON  THE  TRAIL 

and  new  kerchiefs  for  their  necks.  Moise 
looked  on  them  all  with  the  utmost  approba- 
tion. 

"It's  the  best  for  return  like  some  braves 
homines"  said  he.     "Well,  en  avant!" 

They  all  bent  gaily  to  the  paddles  now,  and 
sped  down  the  flood  of  the  great  stream  until 
at  length  they  sighted  the  buildings  of  the 
Hudson  Bay  post,  just  below  the  ferry. 
Here,  finishing  with  a  great  spurt  of  speed, 
they  pulled  alongside  the  landing  bank,  just 
below  where  there  lay  at  mooring  the  tall 
structure  of  the  Hudson  Bay  steamboat, 
Peace  River,  for  the  time  tarrying  at  this 
point.  Moise  rolled  his  paddle  along  the  gun- 
wale, making  the  spray  fly  from  the  blade 
after  the  old  fashion  of  the  voyageurs  ending 
a  journey,  and  the  boys  followed  his  example. 
Many  willing  hands  aided  them  to  disembark. 
A  little  later  they  found  themselves  ready  for 
what  seemed  apt  to  be  one  of  their  last  en- 
campments. 

A  tall  breed  woman  stood  at  a  little  distance 
up  the  bank,  silently  awaiting  their  coming. 
Moise  pointed  to  her  with  no  great  emotion. 

"He's  my  womans,"  said  he.  "He'll  fix 
the  camp  for  us  an'  take  care  of  those  meat, 
yes." 

Moise  and  his  wife  met,  undoubtedly  glad 
266 


THE  END  OF  THE  OLD  WAR-TRAIL 

to  see  each  other,  though  making  no  great 
show  at  the  time.  Pretty  soon  the  breed 
woman  came  down  and  lifted  the  bear  hides 
and  the  meat  from  the  boats. 

"She'll  fix  up  the  hides  for  you,  all  right," 
said  Alex,  quietly.  "As  we  don't  need  the 
meat,  and  as  I  don't  live  here,  but  a  hundred 
miles  below  on  Little  Slave,  I  think  we  had 
better  give  Moise  all  of  the  meat  for  himself 
and  his  people — he  probably  has  fifty  or  more 
'  uncles  '  and  '  cousins  '  in  this  village.  Mean- 
time, I  think  it  might  be  well  for  us  to  make  a 
little  camp  over  here  in  the  cottonwoods  just 
back  of  the  lodges." 

They  saw  now  on  the  flat  between  the  river 
and  the  Company  post  quite  a  little  village  of 
Indian  conical  tepees,  from  which  now  came 
many  Indians  and  half-breeds,  and  a  multitude 
of  yelping  dogs. 

The  boys,  aided  by  one  or  two  taciturn 
but  kindly  natives,  who  seemed  to  know  who 
they  were,  and  so  lent  a  hand  without  any 
request,  soon  had  their  simple  little  camp 
well  under  way.  At  about  this  time  they 
were  approached  by  a  stalwart  man  wearing 
the  cap  of  the  Hudson  Bay  Company's  river 
service. 

"I'm  Saunders,  of  the  Hudson  Bay  Com- 
pany," said  he,   "and  I  suppose  you're  the 

267 


THE  YOUNG  ALASKANS   ON  THE  TRAIL 

nephews  of  Mr.  Wilcox,  an  engineer,  who  has 
gone  down  the  river?" 

"Yes,  sir,"  said  Rob;  "we  have  just  come 
down,  and  we  expected  to  meet  him  below 
here." 

"I  have  a  letter  for  you,"  said  Captain 
Saunders.  "  Mr.  Wilcox  came  up  from  Little 
Slave  awhile  back,  and  went  down  to  Fort 
Vermilion  with  us  on  our  last  trip — I'm  the 
captain  of  the  boat  over  yonder.  He  asked 
me  to  bring  you  down  to  Vermilion  on  our 
next  run.  I  suppose  the  letter  explains 
it  all." 

"Yes,  sir,"  said  Rob,  after  reading  it  and 
handing  it  to  the  others.  "  That's  about  the 
size  of  it.  We  thought  our  trip  was  ended 
here,  but  he  asks  us  to  come  on  down  and 
meet  him  at  Fort  Vermilion !  It  seems  a  long 
way;  but  we're  very  glad  to  meet  you,  Captain 
Saunders." 

They  all  shook  hands,  and  the  grizzled 
veteran  smiled  at  them  quizzically. 

"Well,  young  gentlemen,"  said  he,  "I 
hardly  know  what  to  think  about  your  trip, 
but  if  you  really  made  it,  you're  lucky  to  get 
through  in  as  good  shape  as  you  have." 

"We  had  a  perfectly  bully  time,  sir,"  said 
Rob.  "  We  lost  one  of  our  boats  west  of  the 
canon,   but    we    got  another  this  side,   and 

268 


THE  END  OF  THE  OLD   WAR-TRAIL 

we're  all  safe  and  sound,  with  every  ounce  of 
our  property  along." 

"  You  have  the  best  of  me,  I  must  admit," 
said  the  Hudson  Bay  man,  "for  I  have  never 
been  west  of  St.  John  myself,  although  we 
make  the  Dunvegan  run  regularly  all  the  time, 
of  course.  They  tell  me  it  is  pretty  wild 
back  there  in  the  mountains." 

"  Yes,  sir,"  said  Rob.  "  The  water's  pretty 
fast  sometimes ;  but,  you  see,  we  had  two  good 
men  with  us,  and  we  wTere  very  careful." 

"You  had  pretty  fair  men  with  you,  too, 
didn't  you,  Alex  ?"  smiled  Saunders,  as  the  tall 
half-breed  came  up  at  that  time. 

"None  better,"  said  Alex,  quietly.  "We 
caught  a  grizzly  and  a  black  bear,  not  to  men- 
tion a  caribou  and  a  couple  of  sheep.  They 
seem  to  me  natural  hunters.  I'm  quite  proud 
of  them — so  proud  that  we  gave  them  a  '  lob- 
stick,'  Captain." 

"And  quite  right,  too,"  nodded  Saunders. 

"  Oh,  well,  of  course  we  couldn't  have  done 
any  of  those  things  without  you  and  Moise," 
said  Rob.  "  Anybody  can  shoot  a  rifle  a  little 
bit,  but  not  every  one  could  bring  the  boats 
out  of  such  water  as  we  have  had." 

"Well,  now,  what  do  you  want  to  do?"  re- 
sumed Saunders,  after  a  little.  "Here's  the 
Peace  River  steamer,  and  you  can  get  a  room 

269 


THE  YOUNG  ALASKANS  ON  THE  TRAIL 

and  a  bath  and  a  meal  there  whenever  you 
like.  Or  you  can  stay  here  in  your  tent  and 
eat  with  the  factor  up  at  the  post  beyond. 
I  would  suggest  that  you  take  in  our  city  be- 
fore you  do  much  else." 

"When  were  you  planning  to  leave  for 
Vermilion,  Captain  Saunders?"  inquired  Rob. 

"  Some  time  to-morrow  morning,  as  soon  as 
we  get  plenty  of  wood  from  the  yard  across 
the  river.  It's  about  three  hundred  and  fifty 
miles  to  Vermilion  down-stream — that  is  to 
say,  north  of  here — but  we  run  it  in  two  or 
three  days  with  luck.  Coming  up  it's  a  little 
slower,  of  course." 

"  If  you  don't  mind,  sir,"  said  Rob  at  length, 
"  I  think  we'd  rather  sleep  in  our  tent  as  long 
as  we  can  —  the  steamboat  would  be  very 
nice,  but  it  looks  too  much  like  a  house." 

Saunders  laughed,  and,  turning,  led  the  way 
through  the  Indian  villages  and  up  toward  the 
single  little  street  which  made  the  village  of 
Peace  River  Landing,  ancient  post  of  the 
Hudson  Bay.  Here  he  introduced  the  young 
travelers,  who  at  once  became  the  sensation  of 
the  hour  for  all  the  inhabitants,  who  now 
thronged  the  streets  about  them,  but  who  all 
stood  silent  and  respectful  at  a  distance. 

They  found  the  Hudson  Bay  post,  as  Jesse 
had  said,  more  like  a  country  store  than  the 

270 


THE   END   OF   THE   OLD  WAR-TRAIL 

fur-trading  post  which  they  had  pictured  for 
themselves.  They  saw  piled  up  on  the  shelves 
and  counters  all  sorts  of  the  products  of  civili- 
zation— hardware  of  every  kind,  groceries, 
tinned  goods,  calicoes,  clothes,  hats,  caps, 
guns,  ammunition — indeed,  almost  anything 
one  could  require. 

John  was  looking  behind  the  counters 
with  wistful  eye,  for  the  time  ceasing  his  in- 
vestigation of  the  piles  of  bright  new  moc- 
casins. 

"  I  don't  see  any,  Alex,"  said  he,  at  last. 

"Any  what,  Mr.  John?" 

"Well,  you  said  there'd  be  toffy." 

Alex  laughed  and  beckoned  to  the  clerk. 
When  John  made  known  his  wishes,  the  latter 
ran  his  hand  in  behind  a  pile  of  tobacco  and 
brought  out  a  number  of  blue-covered  pack- 
ages marked  "  Imperial  Toffy.  " 

"I  think  you  will  find  this  very  nice,  sir," 
said  he.  "  It's  made  in  the  old  country,  and 
we  sell  quite  a  bit  of  it  here." 

John's  eyes  lighted  up  at  this,  and,  if  truth 
be  told,  both  of  the  other  boys  were  glad 
enough  to  divide  with  him  his  purchase, 
quantities  of  which  he  generously  shared  also 
with  the  Indian  and  half-breed  children  whom 
he  presently  met  in  the  street. 

"  I  don't  see  but  what  this  is  just  the  same 
271 


THE  YOUNG  ALASKANS  ON  THE  TRAIL 

as  any  other  town,"  said  he   at  length,  his 
mouth  full. 

They  were  received  with  great  courtesy  by 
the  factor  of  the  Hudson  Bay  Company, 
who  invited  them  to  have  lunch  with  him. 
To  their  surprise  they  found  on  the  table  all 
the  sorts  of  green  vegetables  they  had  ever 
known — potatoes,  beans,  tomatoes,  lettuce, 
many  varieties,  and  all  in  the  greatest  pro- 
fusion and  excellence. 

"We  don't  encourage  this  sort  of  thing," 
said  the  factor,  smilingly  pointing  to  these 
dishes  of  vegetables,  "for  the  theory  of  our 
Company  is  that  all  a  man  needs  to  eat  is 
meat  and  fish.  But  just  to  be  in  fashion, 
we  raise  a  few  of  these  things  in  our  gar- 
den, as  you  may  see.  When  you  are  at  Ver- 
milion, moreover,  although  that  is  three 
hundred  and  fifty  miles  north  from  here, 
you'll  see  all  sorts  of  grain  and  every  vege- 
table you  ever  heard  of  growing  as  well  as 
they  do  twelve  or  fifteen  hundred  miles 
south  of  here." 

"It's  a  wonderful  country,  sir,"  said  Rob. 
"  I  don't  blame  Alex  and  Moise  for  calling  this 
the  Land  of  Plenty." 

"Moise  said  that  the  old  war-trail  over 
from  the  Little  Slave  country  used  to  end 
about  here,"  ventured  John. 

272 


THE   END  OF  THE   OLD  WAR-TRAIL 

The  factor  smiled,  and  admitted  that  such 
was  once  said  to  have  been  the  case. 

"Those  days  are  gone,  though,  my  young 
friend,"  said  he.  "There's  a  new  invasion, 
which  we  think  may  unsettle  our  old  ways  as 
much  as  the  invasion  of  the  Crees  did  those  of 
the  Stoneys  and  Beavers  long  ago.  I  mean 
the  invasion  of  the  wagon-trains  of  farmers." 

"Yes,"  said  Rob,  "Alex  told  us  we'd  have 
to  go  to  the  Liard  River  pretty  soon,  if  we 
wanted  any  moose  or  bear ;  but  anyhow,  we're 
here  in  time,  and  we  want  to  thank  you  for 
helping  us  have  such  a  pleasant  trip.  We're 
going  to  enjoy  the  run  down  the  river,  I'm 
sure." 


XXVIII 

STEAMBOATING    IN    THE    FAR    NORTH 

CAPTAIN  SAUNDERS  finished  the  opera- 
tion of  getting  wood  for  the  Peace  River 
by  ten  o'clock  of  the  next  morning,  and  as  the 
steamer  once  more  came  alongside  the  steep 
bank  at  the  landing  the  hoarse  note  of  her 
whistles  notified  every  one  to  get  ready  for  the 
journey  down  the  stream.  The  boys,  who 
had  passed  the  night  in  their  tent  with  Alex — 
Moise  having  gone  to  his  own  tepee  for  the 
night — now  began  to  bestir  themselves  before 
going  aboard  the  steamer. 

"What  are  we  going  to  do  with  all  our 
things,  Alex?"  asked  Rob. 

"How  do  you  mean,  sir?" 

"Why,  our  tent  and  the  skins  and  trophies 
and  blankets  and  everything — we  won't  need 
them  on  board  the  boat,  will  we?" 

"  No,  sir,  and  the  best  way  will  be  to  leave 
them  here." 

"What!  In  our  tent,  with  no  one  to  care 
for  them  ?  You  know,  Moise  is  going  with  us, 
as  I  understand  it." 

274 


STEAMBOATJNG  IN  THE  FAR  NORTH 

"Everything  will  be  perfectly  safe  right 
there  in  the  tent,  if  only  you  tie  the  flaps  so 
the  dogs  can't  get  in, "  answered  Alex.  "  You 
see,  it's  only  white  men  that  steal  in  this 
country — the  Injuns  and  breeds  won't  do 
that.  Until  the  Klondike  pilgrims  came 
through  here  we  didn't  know  what  theft  was. 
I  can  answer  for  these  people  here.  Every- 
thing you  leave  will  be  perfectly  safe,  and,  as 
you  say,  it  will  be  less  bother  than  to  take  this 
stuff  along  on  the  boat." 

Rob  motioned  to  his  companions,  and  they 
stepped  aside  for  a  little  while. 

"What  are  we  going  to  do  about  the  stuff 
we've  got  left  over,  fellows?"  asked  he.  "Of 
course,  we've  got  to  get  down  by  wagon  as  far 
as  Little  Slave,  and  we'll  need  grub  enough, 
if  Uncle  Dick  hasn't  got  it,  to  last  us  two 
or  three  days.  But  we  won't  boat,  and  wre've 
got  quite  a  lot  of  supplies  which  I  think  we 
had  better  give  to  Moise — they  have  to  charge 
pretty  good  prices  for  everything  they  sell  at 
the  store  up  here,  and  maybe  Moise  will  like 
this  stuff." 

"  That  suits  me,"  said  John,  "  and  I  think  it 
would  be  a  good  idea.  Give  Moise  all  the 
meat  and  such  supplies  as  we  don't  need  going 
out." 

"And  then,  how  about  the  boats?" 
275 


THE  YOUNG  ALASKANS  ON  THE  TRAIL 

"Well,  old  Picheu  sold  us  the  dugout,  and 
I  don't  suppose  he'll  ever  get  down  here  any- 
more, and  we  certainly  couldn't  take  it  out 
with  us.  I  'm  in  favor  of  making  Moise  a  pres- 
ent of  that.    He  seems  to  like  it  pretty  well." 

"  A  good  idea, "  said  Rob.  "  And  how  about 
the  Jaybird?  Wouldn't  it  be  fine  to  give  that 
to  Alex!" 

Both  the  other  boys  thought  this  would  be 
a  good  idea,  and  they  accordingly  proposed 
these  plans  to  Alex  before  they  went  aboard 
the   steamer. 

The  old  hunter  smiled  with  great  pleasure  at 
their  generosity.  "I  don't  want  to  rob  you 
young  men,"  said  he,  "  and  without  doubt  you 
could  sell  both  of  those  boats  here  if  you 
liked.  But  if  you  want  us  to  keep  them,  they 
will  be  of  great  value  to  us.  Moise  hunts  up 
and  down  the  river  all  the  time,  and  can  use 
the  dugout.  I  live  on  Little  Slave,  and  hunt 
miles  below  here,  but  I  have  plenty  of  friends 
with  wagons,  and  they'll  take  the  Jaybird 
across  for  me.  I'll  keep  her  as  long  as  she 
lasts,  and  be  very  glad  indeed." 

"Well,  then,"  said  Rob,  "I  don't  see  any 
reason  why  we  shouldn't  go  aboard.  I'm 
almost  sorry,  too,  because  it  seems  to  me  as 
though  we  were  pretty  near  to  the  end  of  our 
trip  now." 

276 


STEAMBOAT1NG  IN  THE   FAR   NORTH 

"Don't  be  so  sure,"  said  the  old  hunter  to 
him.  "  Some  of  the  best  bear  country  on  this 
river  is  below  this  point,  and  unless  I  am  very- 
much  mistaken,  you  will  probably  see  a  dozen 
or  two  bear  between  here  and  Vermilion." 

On  board  the  steamboat  the  boys  found  a 
long  table  spread  with  clean  linen,  comfortable 
bunks  with  linen  sheets,  something  they  had 
not  seen  for  a  long  time,  and  a  general  air  of 
shipshapeness  which  did  not  seem  to  comport 
with  a  country  so  wild  and  remote  as  this. 
Each  was  assigned  to  a  room,  where  he  distrib- 
uted his  belongings,  and  soon  they  were  all 
settled  down  comfortably,  Alex  and  Moise 
also  having  rooms  given  to  them,  according  to 
the  instructions  which  Uncle  Dick  had  sent  up 
to  the  Company. 

During  the  last  few  minutes  before  the 
mooring-lines  of  the  boat  were  cast  loose  all 
the  party  stood  along  the  rail  watching  the 
breed  deck-hands  carrying  aboard  the  re- 
mainder of  the  boat's  cargo.  Rob  expressed 
the  greatest  surprise  at  the  enormous  loads 
which  these  men  carried  easily  from  the 
storehouse  down  the  slippery  bank  and  up 
the  steep  gang-plank.  "I  didn't  think  such 
strong  men  lived  anywhere  in  the  world,"  said 
he.    "  I  never  saw  anything  like  it!" 

"Yes,"  said  Alex,  "there  are  some  pretty 
277 


THE  YOUNG  ALASKANS  ON  THE  TRAIL 

good  men  on  the  river,  that's  true.  The  man 
who  couldn't  shoulder  three  hundred  pounds 
and  get  it  aboard  would  be  back  of  the  first 
rank." 

"Three  hundred  pounds!"  said  Rob. 
"That's  pretty  heavy,  isn't  it?" 

"Non!  Non!"  broke  in  Moise.  "She's  no 
heavy.  On  the  trail  those  man  he'll  take 
three  packets,  two  hundred  seventy  poun',  an' 
he'll  trot  all  same  dog — we'll  both  told  you 
that  before.  My  onkle,  Billy  Loutit,  he'll 
carry  seex  hondred  poun'  one  tarn  up  a  heell 
long  tarn.  He'll  take  barrel  of  pork  an'  ron 
on  the  bank  all  same  deer." 

Rob  turned  a  questioning  glance  on  Alex, 
who  nodded  confirmation.  "Men  have  been 
known  to  carry  four  or  five  hundred  pounds 
considerable  distances  on  the  portage,"  said 
he.  "It  isn't  best  for  them,  but  they're  al- 
ways rivaling  one  another  in  these  feats  of 
strength.  Saunders  here,  the  captain,  used  to 
carry  five  hundred  pounds  in  his  day — all  the 
salt  pork  and  boxes  you  could  rake  up  on  top 
of  him.  You  see  this  is  a  country  of  large 
distances  and  the  seasons  are  short.  You  talk 
about  'hustling'  down  in  the  cities,  but  I 
suppose  there  never  was  a  business  carried  on 
which  'hustled'  as  long  and  hard  as  the  old 
fur  trade  a  hundred  years  ago.     That's  where 

278 


STEAMBOATING  IN  THE  FAR  NORTH 

these  men  came  from — from  fathers  and  grand- 
fathers who  were  brought  up  in  the  work. 

At  last  the  steamer  cast  loose  her  mooring- 
lines  and  stood  off  for  midstream  with  a  final 
roar  of  her  whistles.  A  row  of  Indians  and 
breeds  along  the  bank  again  gave  the  salute 
of  the  north  with  a  volley  of  rifle-fire.  They 
were  off  for  the  last  lap  of  their  long  journey 
down  the  great  river,  this  time  under  some- 
what different  circumstances  from  those  under 
which  they  had  begun  their  journey. 

The  boys  rapidly  explored  the  steamboat, 
and  found  her  a  comfortable  side-wheeler, 
especially  built  for  this  river  work,  with 
powerful  engines  and  abundance  of  room  on 
her  lower  deck  for  heavy  cargo.  Her  cabin- 
deck  provided  good  accommodations  for  pas- 
sengers, and,  all  in  all,  she  was  quite  a  won- 
derful vessel  for  that  far-off  country,  in  their 
belief. 

"I  found  something  down  below,"  said 
John,  coming  up  the  companion-stair  after  a 
time. 

"What's  that?"  asked  Jesse. 

"  Bear  hide  nailed  on  the  side  of  the  boat, 
by  the  wood-pile  below.  The  engineer  killed 
it  a  week  ago  up  the  river.  About  every  one 
on  the  boat  has  a  rifle,  and  they  say  they  get 
bears  every  trip.     I  think  we  had  better  have 

19  279 


THE  YOUNG  ALASKANS  ON  THE  TRAIL 

our  guns  ready  all  the  time.  They  say  that 
old  Showan,  the  pilot  in  the  pilot-house  up 
above,  only  keeps  his  job  on  this  boat  because 
he  gets  such  fine  bear  hunting  all  the  time." 

"Well,  he'll  have  to  beat  us,"  said  Rob, 
stoutly. 

"Alex,"  inquired  Jesse,  after  a  time,  "how 
many  bear  did  you  ever  see  on  this  river  in 
one  day?" 

"I  wouldn't  like  to  say,"  answered  Alex, 
"for  we  don't  always  count  them.  I'm  told 
that  one  of  our  passengers  counted  twenty- 
eight  in  one  afternoon  right  on  this  part  of 
the  river  where  we  are  now.  I've  often  seen  a 
dozen  a  day,  I  should  say." 

"  You're  joking  about  that,  Alex !"  said  Rob. 

"Wait  and  see — I  may  show  you  pretty 
soon,"  was  the  answer. 

The  boys,  always  ready  enough  when  there 
was  game  to  be  seen,  secured  their  rifles  and 
took  their  stand  at  the  front  rail  of  the  cabin 
deck,  ready  for  anything  which  might  appear. 

"  I  don't  see  how  you  can  shoot  off  this 
boat,"  said  Jesse,  trying  to  sight  his  rifle. 
"It  wobbles  all  the  time  when  the  engine 
goes." 

Alex  gave  him  a  little  advice.  "I  think 
you'll  find  it  better  to  stand  with  your  feet 
pretty  close  together,"   said  he,  "and  keep 

280 


STEAMBOATING   IN  THE  FAR  NORTH 

your  hands  as  close  together  as  you  can  on 
your  rifle,  too.  Then,  when  you  catch  sight 
of  your  mark  as  you  swing  by,  pull,  and  don't 
try  to  hold  dead  on." 

For  some  time  they  saw  nothing,  and,  lean- 
ing their  rifles  against  the  cabin  walls,  were 
talking  about  something  else,  when  all  at  once 
they  heard  the  whistle  of  the  steamer  boom 
out  above  them.  At  about  the  same  time,  one 
of  the  deck-hands  at  the  bow  deck  below 
picked  up  a  piece  of  plank  and  began  to  beat 
loudly  with  it  upon  the  side  structure  of  the 
boat. 

"What's  the  matter?"  asked  Rob.  "Has 
everybody  gone  crazy,  Alex  ?" 

"No;  they're  just  trying  to  beat  up  the 
game,"  said  Alex,  smiling.  "You  see  that 
island  below?  It  nearly  always  has  bears 
feeding  on  it,  where  the  berries  are  thick. 
When  the  boat  comes  down  above  them  the 
men  try  to  scare  the  bears  out  into  the  river. 
Just  wait  a  minute,  and  perhaps  you'll  see 
some  of  the  strangest  bear  hunting  you  ever 
heard  of  in  your  life." 

Almost  as  he  spoke  they  all  heard  the  crack 
of  a  rifle  from  the  pilot-house  above  them,  and 
saw  the  spit  of  a  bullet  on  the  water  many 
hundreds  of  yards  below  them. 

"I  see  him,"  said  Rob,  "I  see  him — there 
281 


THE  YOUNG  ALASKANS  ON  THE  TRAIL 

he  goes!  Look  at  that  little  ripple  on  the 
water. ' ' 

"Yes,"  said  Alex,  quietly,  "there  was  one 
on  the  island,  as  I  supposed  there  would  be. 
He  is  swimming  off  now  for  the  mainland. 
Too  far  yet,  I  should  say.  Just  take  your 
time,  and  let  Showan  waste  his  ammunition." 

It  was  all  the  boys  could  do  to  hold  their 
fire,  but  presently,  since  almost  every  one  else 
on  the  boat  began  to  shoot,  Alex  signaled  to 
his  young  charges  to  open  up  their  battery. 
He  knew  very  well  that  the  rifles  they  were 
using  were  more  powerful  than  the  carbines 
which  made  the  usual  arm  in  that  country. 

"Be  careful  now,  young  men,"  said  he, 
"and  watch  where  your  bullets  go." 

For  the  first  few  shots  the  boys  found  the 
difficulty  which  Jesse  had  prophesied,  for 
shooting  from  an  unstable  platform  is  always 
difficult.  They  had  the  added  advantage, 
however,  of  being  able  to  tell  where  their 
bullets  were  falling.  As  they  were  all  firing 
close  together,  and  were  using  rifles  of  the 
same  caliber,  it  was  difficult  to  tell  who  really 
was  the  lucky  marksman,  but,  while  the  little 
triangle  of  moving  water  still  seemed  two  or 
three  hundred  yards  below  the  boat,  suddenly 
it  ceased  to  advance.  There  lay  upon  the  sur- 
face of  the  water  a  large  oblong,  black  mass. 

sSa 


STEAMBOATING   IN  THE   FAR  NORTH 

"Through  the  head!"  said  Alex,  quietly. 
"I  don't  know  which  one." 

All  the  deck-hands  below  began  to  laugh 
and  shout.  The  captain  of  the  boat  now  came 
forward.  "  I  don't  know  which  one  of  you  to 
congratulate,"  said  he,  "but  that  was  good 
work.  Now  my  men  will  have  plenty  of  meat 
for  the  trip  down,  that's  sure." 

He  now  passed  down  to  the  floor  of  the 
deck,  and  under  his  instructions  one  of  the 
deck-hands  picked  up  a  long,  stout  pole  which 
had  a  hook  fastened  on  the  end  of  it. 

11  Look  down  there  below  now,  young  gentle- 
men," said  Alex,  "and  you'll  see  something 
you  never  will  see  anywhere  but  here.  We 
gafT  a  bear  here,  the  same  as  you  do  a  salmon . ' ' 

This  literally  was  true.  The  engineer  now 
shut  off  his  engines,  and  the  great  boat  drifted 
slowly  down  upon  the  floating  body  of  the 
dead  bear,  with  just  steerageway  enough  to 
enable  the  pilot  to  lay  her  alongside.  At  last 
the  deck-hand  made  a  quick  sweep  with  his 
gaff-hook,  and  calling  two  of  his  fellows  to  hold 
onto  the  pole  with  him,  and  so  stopping  the 
tremendous  pull  which  the  body  of  the  bear 
made  on  the  pole,  they  finally  succeeded  in 
easing  down  the  strain  and  presently  brought 
the  dead  bear  close  alongside.  Then  a  noose 
was  dropped  over  its  neck  and  it  was  hauled 

283 


THE  YOUNG  ALASKANS  ON  THE  TRAIL 

aboard.  All  this  time  the  boys  were  excitedly 
waiting  for  the  end  of  their  strange  hunt,  and 
to  them  this  sort  of  bear  hunting  seemed 
about  the  most  curious  they  had  ever  known. 

The  deck-hands  now,  in  obedience  to  a 
word  in  their  own  language  from  the  captain, 
rapidly  began  to  skin  and  quarter  the  dead  bear. 

Moise  explained  to  them  that  his  young 
hunters  wanted  the  skin  saved  for  them,  with 
the  claws  and  the  skull,  so  that  they  were  more 
particular  than  they  usually  are  in  skinning 
a  bear  which  they  intend  to  eat.  Truth  to 
say,  the  carcass  of  this  bear  scarcely  lasted  for 
the  rest  of  the  voyage,  for  black  bear  is  a  regu- 
lar article  of  diet  for  these  people,  although 
they  will  not  often  eat  the  grizzly. 

These  operations  were  scarcely  well  ad- 
vanced before  once  more  the  whistle  began  to 
roar,  and  once  more  the  rifle-fire  began  from 
Showan's  place  up  in  the  pilot-house.  This 
time  they  all  saw  a  big  bear  running  up  the 
bank,  but  perhaps  half  a  mile  away.  It  made 
good  speed  scrambling  up  over  the  bare  places, 
and  was  lost  to  sight  from  time  to  time  among 
the  bushes.  But  it  had  no  difficulty  in  mak- 
ing its  escape  unhurt,  for  now  the  boys,  al- 
though they  fired  rapidly  at  it,  could  not  tell 
where  their  bullets  were  dropping,  and  were 
unable  to  correct  their  aim. 

284 


STEAMBOATING  IN  THE  FAR  NORTH 

:'I  don't  care,"  said  Rob,  "if  it  did  get 
away.  We've  got  almost  bears  enough  now, 
and  besides,  I  don't  know  whether  this  is 
sportsmanlike  or  not,  shooting  bears  from 
a  boat.  Anyhow,  when  an  animal  is  swim- 
ming in  the  water  and  can't  get  away,  I  don't 
see  the  fun  in  killing  it.  Let's  wait  on  the 
next  one  and  let  the  pilot  shoot  it." 

They  did  not  have  half  an  hour  to  wait 
before  they  saw  that  very  thing  happen.  The 
whistles  once  more  stirred  the  echoes  as  they 
swung  down  to  a  group  of  two  or  three  islands, 
and  this  time  two  bears  started  wildly  across 
the  channel  for  the  mainland.  Rob  and  his 
friends  did  not  shoot  at  these,  but  almost 
every  one  else  did.  One  escaped  unhurt,  but 
another,  although  it  almost  reached  the  bank, 
was  shot  dead  with  a  bullet  from  Showan's 
rifle.  Once  more  the  manoeuvers  of  the  gaff- 
hook  were  repeated,  and  once  more  a  great 
black  bear  was  hauled  on  board.  In  fact, 
they  saw  during  the  afternoon  no  less  than  six 
full-grown  bears,  none  of  which  got  away  un- 
saluted,  but  only  two  of  which  really  were 
"bagged,"  as  Alex  called  it,  by  the  men  with 
the  gaff -hook. 


XXIX 

A    MOOSE    HUNT 

THE  great  flues  of  the  Peace  River  de- 
voured enormous  quantities  of  the  soft 
pine  fuel,  so  that  soon  after  noon  of  the  second 
day  they  found  it  well  to  haul  alongshore  at  a 
wood-yard,  where  some  of  the  employes  of 
the  company  had  stacked  up  great  heaps  of 
cord-wood.  It  was  the  duty  of  the  deck-hands 
to  get  this  aboard  the  boat,  an  operation 
which  would  require  perhaps  several  hours. 

"  You  might  prefer  to  go  ashore  here,"  said 
Alex,  "  while  we're  lying  tied  up.  We'll  blow 
the  whistle  in  time  to  call  you  in  before  we 
cast  off." 

As  Alex  did  not  think  there  would  be  any 
hunting,  he  concluded  to  remain  on  the  boat, 
but  Moise  volunteered  to  walk  along  the  beach 
with  the  boys,  to  explain  anything  they 
might  see,  and  to  be  of  assistance  in  case  they 
should  happen  to  meet  with  any  game,  al- 
though no  one  suspected  that  such  would  be 
the  case,  since  the  arrival  of  the  boat  had 
necessarily    made    considerable    disturbance. 

286 


A  MOOSE  HUNT 

"  Maybe  so  we'll  seen  some  of  these  mooses 
somewhere, ' '  said  Moise  after  a  time.  "  You'll 
seen  his  track  on  the  sand  all  along." 

"That's  so,"  said  Rob.  "They  look  just 
like  cattle,  don't  they  ?  I  should  think  all  the 
game  in  the  country  must  be  coming  down 
into  this  valley  to  see  what's  going  on.  Here's 
a  wolf  track,  too,  big  as  a  horse's  foot,  almost. 
And  what  are  all  of  these  little  scratches,  like 
a  cat,  on  the  beach,  Moise?" 

"Some  beevaire,  he'll  sweem  across  an' 
come  out  here.  He'll  got  a  house  somewhere, 
I'll  s'pose.  Plenty  game  on  this  part  of  the 
river  all  tarn.  Plenty  meat.  My  people  he'll 
live  here  many  year.  I  got  some  onkle  over 
on  Battle  River,  an'  seven,  five,  eight  cousin 
on  Cadotte  River,  not  far  from  here.  All 
good  honter,  too." 

"  I  can  believe  that,  Moise,  after  seeing 
you,"  said  John. 

The  happy-go-lucky  Moise  laughed  light- 
heartedly.  "  If  she'll  don'  hont  on  this  land, 
she'll  starve  sure.  A  man  he'll  mus'  walk, 
he'll  mus'  hont,  he'll  mus'  portage,  he'll  must 
trap,  he'll  mus'  walk  on  the  track-line,  an' 
know  how  for  paddle  an'  pole,  else  he'll  starve 
sure." 

They  walked  on  down  along  the  narrow 
beach  covered  with  rough  stones,  and  showing 

287 


THE  YOUNG  ALASKANS  ON  THE  TRAIL 

only  here  and  there  enough  of  the  sand  or 
earth  to  hold  a  track.  At  length,  however, 
Moise  gave  a  sharp  word  of  caution,  and 
hurriedly  motioned  them  all  to  get  under 
cover  at  the  bank. 

"What  is  it,  Moise?"  whispered  Rob, 
eagerly. 

"Moose!"  He  pointed  down  the  bank. 
For  a  long  time  the  boys  could  discover  noth- 
ing, but  at  last  they  caught  sight  of  a  little 
splash  of  water  four  or  five  hundred  yards 
below,  where  a  trickling  stream  entered  the 
main  river  at  a  low  place. 

"He'll  stood  there  an'  fight  the  fly,  maybe 
so,"  said  Moise.  "Ha-hum!  Why  he'll  don' 
see  us  I  don'  know,  me.  Why  the  boat  he'll 
not  scare  heem  I'll  don'  know,  me,  too.  How 
we'll  get  heem  I  don'  know,  me.  But  we'll 
try.     Come!" 

The  boys  now  found  that  Moise  was  once 
more  turned  hunter,  and  rather  a  relentless 
and  thoughtless  one  at  that,  for  he  seemed 
to  pay  no  attention  to  the  weakness  of  other 
members  of  his  company.  They  scarcely 
could  keep  him  in  sight  as  he  made  his  way 
through  the  heavy  cover  to  an  upper  bench, 
wThere  the  forest  was  more  open.  Here  he 
pointed  to  the  steep  slope  which  still  rose 
above  them. 


A  MOOSE   HUNT 

"We  must  make  surround,"  said  he,  in  a 
whisper. 

Not  so  bad  a  general  was  Moise,  for,  slight 
as  was  his  chance  to  approach  so  wary  an 
animal  as  a  moose  under  these  conditions,  he 
used  the  only  possible  plan  by  which  success 
might  have  been  attained. 

The  little  trickle  of  water  in  which  the 
moose  stood  at  the  beach  below  came  down 
out  of  a  steep  coulee,  which  at  the  point  where 
they  stood  ran  between  deep  banks,  rapidly 
shallowing  farther  up  the  main  slope.  Fortu- 
nately the  wind  was  right  for  an  approach. 
Moise  left  John  at  a  rock  which  showed  on  an 
open  place  pretty  well  up  the  hill,  and  sta- 
tioned Jesse  a  little  closer  to  the  coulee.  Moise 
and  Rob  scrambled  across  the  steep  slopes 
of  the  ravine,  and  hurried  on  as  fast  as  they 
could  go,  to  try  to  get  below  the  moose  in  case 
it  should  attempt  to  take  the  water.  Thus 
they  had  four  rifles  distributed  at  points  able  to 
cover  the  course  of  the  moose  should  it  attempt 
to  escape  up  the  bank,  and  close  enough  to  hear 
it  if  it  passed  beneath  in  the  forest  growth. 

Rob  and  Moise  paused  only  long  enough 
partly  to  get  their  breath  before  Moise  mo- 
tioned to  Rob  to  remain  where  he  was,  while 
he  himself  hastened  to  the  right  and  down  to- 
ward the  beach. 

289 


THE  YOUNG  ALASKANS  ON  THE  TRAIL 

For  some  time  the  half-breed  hunter  re- 
mained at  the  edge  of  the  cover,  listening 
intently.  Apparently  he  heard  no  sound,  and 
neither  he  nor  Rob  could  detect  any  ripple  on 
the  water  showing  that  the  moose  was  going  to 
undertake  escape  by  swimming.  Thus  for  a 
time,  for  what  indeed  seemed  several  minutes, 
all  the  hunters  continued  in  their  inaction, 
unable  to  determine  upon  a  better  course 
than  simply  to  wait  to  see  what  might  happen. 

What  did  happen  was  something  rather 
singular  and  unexpected.  Suddenly  Rob 
heard  a  rifle-shot  at  the  left,  and  turning,  saw 
the  smoke  of  Jesse's  rifle,  followed  by  a  second 
and  then  a  third  report.  He  saw  Jesse  then 
spring  to  his  feet  and  run  up  to  the  slope, 
shouting  excitedly  as  he  went  and  waving  his 
cap.  Evidently  the  hunt  was  over  in  very 
unexpected  fashion.  Moise,  Rob,  and  John 
also  ran  up  as  fast  as  their  legs  and  lungs  would 
allow  them. 

They  saw  lying  almost  at  the  head  of  the 
coulee,  which  here  had  shallowed  up  percep- 
tibly, a  great,  long-legged,  dark  body,  with 
enormous  head,  tremendously  long  nose,  and 
widely  palmated  antlers — the  latter  in  the 
velvet,  but  already  of  extreme  size. 

For  a  time  they  could  hardly  talk  for  fatigue 
and  excitement,  but  presently  each  could  see 

290 


A  MOOSE  HUNT 

how  the  hunt  had  happened  to  terminate  in 
this  way.  The  moose,  smelling  or  hearing 
Moise  when  he  got  on  the  wind  below,  at  the 
edge  of  the  cover,  had  undertaken  to  make  its 
escape  quietly  under  the  cover  of  the  steep 
coulee  down  which  it  had  come.  With  the 
silence  which  this  gigantic  animal  sometimes 
can  compass,  it  had  sneaked  like  a  rabbit  quite 
past  Rob  and  almost  to  the  head  of  the  coulee. 
A  little  bit  later  and  it  might  have  gained 
the  summit  and  have  been  lost  in  the  poplar 
forest  beyond.  Jesse,  however,  had  happened 
to  see  it  as  it  emerged,  and  had  opened  fire, 
with  the  result  which  now  was  obvious.  His 
last  bullet  had  struck  the  moose  through  the 
heart  as  it  ran  and  killed  it  almost  instantly. 

"  Well,  Jess,"  said  Rob,  "  I  take  off  my  hat 
to  you !  That  moose  must  have  passed  within 
a  hundred  yards  of  me  and  I  never  knew  it, 
and  from  where  you  killed  him  he  must  have 
been  three  hundred  yards  at  least." 

"Those  boy  she'll  be  good  shot,"  said 
Moise,  approvingly,  slapping  Jesse  warmly 
on  the  shoulder.  "  Plenty  meat  now  on  the 
boat,  hein?" 

"When  I  shot  him,"  said  Jesse,  simply, 
"he  just  fell  all  over  the  hill." 

"I  was  just  going  to  shoot,"  said  John, 
"but  I  couldn't  see  very  well  from  where  I 

291 


THE  YOUNG  ALASKANS  ON  THE  TRAIL 

was,  and  before  I  could  run  into  reach  Jesse 
had  done  the  business." 

"Well,"  said  Moise,  "one  thing,  she'll  been 
lucky.  We'll  make  those  deck-hand  come  an' 
carry  in  this  meat — me,  I'm  too  proud  to  carry 
some  more  meat,  what?" 

He  laughed  now  as  he  began  to  skin  out  and 
quarter  the  meat  in  his  usual  rapid  and  effi- 
cient fashion. 

They  had  finished  this  part  of  their  work, 
and  were  turning  down  the  hill  to  return  to  the 
steamer  when  they  were  saluted  by  the  heavy 
whistle  of  the  boat,  which  echoed  in  great 
volume  back  and  forth  between  the  steep 
banks  of  the  river,  which  here  lay  at  the 
bottom  of  a  trough-like  valley,  the  stream 
itself  several  hundred  yards  in  width. 

"Don't  hurry,"  said  Moise;  "she'll  wait 
till  we  come,  an'  she'll  like  plenty  moose  meat 
on  his  boat." 

All  of  which  came  out  as  Moise  had  pre- 
dicted, for  when  they  told  Captain  Saunders 
that  they  really  had  a  dead  moose  ready  to  be 
brought  aboard  the  latter  beamed  his  satis- 
faction. 

"That's  better  than  bear  meat  for  me!" 
said  he.  "We'll  just  lie  here  while  the  boys 
go  out  and  bring  in  the  meat." 

"  Now,"  said  Rob  to  his  friends,  as,  hot  and 
292 


A  MOOSE  HUNT 

dusty,  they  turned  to  their  rooms  to  get  ready 
for  dinner,  "  I  don't  know  what  you  other 
fellows  think,  but  it  seems  to  me  we've  killed 
about  all  the  meat  we'll  need  for  a  while. 
Let's  wait  now  until  we  see  Uncle  Dick — it 
won't  be  more  than  a  day  or  so,  and  we've 
all  had  a  good  hunt." 


XXX 

FARTHEST    NORTH 

AS  they  had  been  told,  our  travelers  found 
•  the  banks  of  their  river  at  this  far 
northern  latitude  much  lower  than  they  had 
been  for  the  first  hundred  miles  below  the 
Landing.  Now  and  again  they  would  pass 
little  scattered  settlements  of  natives,  or  the 
cabin  of  some  former  trading-station.  For 
the  most  part,  however,  the  character  of  the 
country  was  that  of  an  untracked  wilderness, 
in  spite  of  the  truth,  which  was  that  the  Hud- 
son Bay  Company  had  known  it  and  traded 
through  it  for  more  than  a  century  past. 

By  no  means  the  most  northerly  trading- 
posts  of  the  great  fur-trading  company,  Fort 
Vermilion,  their  present  destination,  seemed 
to  our  young  friends  almost  as  though  it  were 
at  the  edge  of  the  world.  Their  journey 
progressed  almost  as  though  they  were  in  a 
dream,  and  it  was  difficult  for  them  to  recall 
all  of  its  incidents,  or  to  get  clearly  before  their 
minds  the  distance  back  of  them  to  the  homes 

294 


FARTHEST  NORTH 

in  far-off  Alaska,  which  they  had  left  so  long 
ago.  The  interest  of  travelers  in  new  land, 
however,  still  was  theirs,  and  they  looked 
forward  eagerly  also  to  meeting  the  originator 
of  this  pleasant  journey  of  theirs — Uncle 
Dick  Wilcox,  who,  as  they  now  learned  from 
the  officers  of  the  boat,  had  been  summoned  to 
this  remote  region  on  business  connected  with 
the  investigation  of  oil-fields  on  the  Athabasca 
River,  and  had  returned  as  far  as  Fort  Ver- 
milion on  his  way  out  to  the  settlements. 

When  finally  they  came  within  sight  of  the 
ancient  post  of  Fort  Vermilion,  the  boys,  as 
had  been  the  case  in  such  other  posts  as  they 
previously  had  seen,  could  scarcely  identify 
the  modest  whitewashed  buildings  of  logs  or 
boards  as  really  belonging  to  a  post  of  the  old 
company  of  Hudson  Bay.  The  scene  which 
they  approached  really  was  a  quiet  and  peace- 
ful one.  At  the  rim  of  the  bank  stood  the 
white  building  of  the  Company's  post,  or  store, 
with  a  well-shingled  red  roof.  Beyond  this 
were  some  houses  of  the  employes.  In  the 
other  direction  was  the  residence  of  the  factor, 
a  person  of  considerable  importance  in  this 
neighborhood.  Yet  farther  up-stream,  along 
the  bank,  stood  a  church  with  a  little  bell; 
whereas,  quite  beyond  the  scattered  settle- 
ment and  in  the  opposite  direction  there  rose 
20  295 


THE  YOUNG  ALASKANS  ON  THE  TRAIL 

a  tall,  two-story  building  with  projecting 
smoke-stack.  Rob  inquired  the  nature  of  this 
last  building,  which  looked  familiar  to  him. 

"That  is  the  grist-mill,"  said  Captain 
Saunders  to  him.  "You  see,  we  raise  the 
finest  wheat  up  here  you'll  find  in  the  world." 

"  I've  heard  of  it,"  said  Rob,  "  but  I  couldn't 
really  believe  it,  although  we  had  good  vege- 
tables away  back  there  at  Peace  River  Land- 
ing." 

"It's  the  truth,"  said  Captain  Saunders; 
"yonder  is  the  Company's  wheat -field,  a 
hundred  acres  of  it,  and  the  same  sort  of  wheat 
that  took  the  first  prize  at  the  Centennial,  at 
your  own  city  of  Philadelphia,  in  1876.  I'll 
show  you  old  Brother  Regnier,  the  man  who 
raised  that  wheat,  too.  He  can't  speak  any 
English  yet,  but  he  certainly  can  raise  good 
wheat.  And  at  the  experimental  farm  you 
shall  see  nearly  every  vegetable  you  ever 
heard  of." 

"I  don't  understand  it,"  said  Rob;  "we 
always  thought  of  this  country  as  being  arctic 
— we  never  speak  of  it  without  thinking  of 
dog-trains  and  snowshoes." 

"The  secret  is  this,"  said  Captain  Saunders. 
"Our  summers  are  short,  but  our  days  are 
very  long.  Now,  wheat  requires  sunshine, 
daylight,  to   make   it   grow.     All   right;   we 

296 


FARTHEST  NORTH 

give  it  more  hours  of  sunshine  in  a  month 
than  you  do  in  a  month  in  Dakota  or  Iowa. 
The  result  is  that  it  grows  quicker  and  stronger 
and  better,  as  we  think.  It  gets  ripe  before 
the  nights  become  too  cold.  This  great 
abundance  of  sunlight  is  the  reason,  also,  that 
we  raise  such  excellent  vegetables — as  I'm 
sure  you  will  have  reason  to  understand,  for 
here  we  always  lay  in  a  supply  for  our  return 
voyage.  I  am  thinking,  however,"  added 
the  captain,  presently,  as  the  boat,  scream- 
ing with  her  whistle,  swung  alongside  of 
her  landing-place,  "that  you'll  see  some 
one  in  this  crowd  here  that  you  ought  to 
know." 

All  along  the  rim  of  the  bank  there  was 
rather  a  gaily-clad  line  of  Indians  and  half- 
breeds,  men  and  women,  many  of  whom  were 
waving  salutations  to  members  of  the  boat's 
crew.  The  boys  studied  this  line  eagerly,  but 
for  some  time  none  of  them  spoke. 

"I  see  him!"  said  Jesse  at  last.  "That's 
Uncle  Dick  sitting  up  there  on  the  bench." 

The  others  also  identified  their  relative  and 
friend  as  he  sat  quietly  smoking  and  waiting 
for  the  boat  to  make  her  landing.  At  length 
he  arose  and  came  to  the  staging — a  rather 
slender,  bronzed  man,  with  very  brown  face 
and  eyes  wrinkled  at  the  corners.     He  w ore  an 

297 


THE  YOUNG  ALASKANS  ON  THE  TRAIL 

engineer's  garb  of  khaki  and  stiff  -  brimmed 
white  hat. 

The  three  boys  took  off  their  hats  and  gave 
a  cheer  as  they  saw  him  standing  there  smil- 
ing. 

"  How  are  you,  Uncle  Dick ?"  they  all  cried; 
and  so  eager  were  they  that  they  could  scarce- 
ly wait  for  the  gang-plank  to  be  run  out. 

Their  uncle,  Mr.  Richard  Wilcox,  at  that 
time  employed  in  the  engineering  department 
of  one  of  the  Dominion  railways,  laughed 
rather  happily  as  he  bunched  them  in  his 
arms  when  they  came  ashore.  There  was 
little  chance  for  him  to  say  anything  for  some 
time,  so  eager  were  the  boys  in  their  greeting 
of  him. 

"Well,  you're  all  here!"  said  he  at  length, 
breaking  away  to  shake  hands  with  Alex  and 
Moise,  who  smiled  very  happily  also,  now 
coming  up  the  bank.  "  How  have  they  done, 
Alex?" 

"Fine!"  said  the  old  hunter.  "Couldn't 
have  been  better!" 

"This  was  good  boys,  all  right,"  affirmed 
Moise.  "  We'll  save  her  life  plenty  tarn,  but 
she's  good  boy!" 

"  Did  you  have  any  trouble  getting  across, 
Alex?"  asked  Uncle  Dick. 

"Plenty,  I  should  say!"  said  Alex,  smiling. 
298 


FARTHEST  NORTH 

"But  we  came  through  it.  The  boys  have 
acted  like  sportsmen,  and  I  couldn't  say 
more." 

"  I  suppose  perhaps  you  got  some  game 
then,  eh?" 

All  three  now  began  to  speak  at  once  ex- 
citedly, and  so  fast  that  they  could  scarcely 
be  understood. 

"Did  you  really  get  a  grizzly?"  inquired 
Uncle  Dick  of  Alex,  after  a  while. 

"Yes,  sir,  and  a  very  good  one.  And  a 
black  bear  too,  and  a  moose,  and  some  sheep, 
and  a  lot  of  small  stuff  like  that.  They're 
hunters  and  travelers.  We  gave  them  a  'lob- 
stick  '  to  mark  their  journey — far  back  in  the 
Rockies." 

"Well,  Alaska  will  have  to  look  to  its 
laurels!"  said  Uncle  Dick,  taking  a  long  breath 
and  pretending  not  to  be  proud  of  them. 
"It  seems  to  me  you  must  have  been  pretty 
busy  shooting  things,  from  all  I  can  learn, 
young  men." 

"Oh,  we  know  the  country,"  interrupted 
Rob,  "and  we've  got  a  map — we  could  build 
a  railroad  across  there  if  we  had  to." 

"Well,  to  tell  the  truth,  I'm  mighty  glad 
you  got  through  all  right,"  said  Uncle  Dick. 
"  I've  been  thinking  that  maybe  I  oughtn't  to 
have  let  you  try  that  trip,  for  it's  dangerous 

299 


THE  YOUNG  ALASKANS  ON  THE  TRAIL 

enough  for  men.  But  everything's  well  that 
ends  well,  and  here  you  are,  safe  and  sound. 
You'll  have  to  be  getting  out  of  here  before 
long,  though,  in  order  to  make  Valdez  in  time 
for  your  fall  school — you'd  be  running  wild  if 
I  left  you  on  the  trail  any  longer. 

"  The  boat  will  be  going  back  to  the  Land- 
ing in  a  couple  of  days,  I  suppose,"  he  added 
after  a  time,  as  he  gathered  their  hands  in  his 
and  started  along  the  path  up  the  steep  bank ; 
"  but  there  are  a  few  things  here  you  ought  to 
see — the  post  and  the  farms  and  grains  which 
they  have — wonderful  things  in  their  way. 
And  then  I'll  try  to  get  Saunders  to  fix  it  so 
that  you  can  see  the  Vermilion  Chutes  of  the 
Peace  River." 

"I  know  right  where  that  is,"  said  Rob, 
feeling  in  his  pocket  for  his  map — "about 
sixty  miles  below  here.  That's  the  head  of 
navigation  on  the  Peace,  isn't  it?" 

"It  is  for  the  present  time,"  said  Uncle 
Dick.  "I've  been  looking  at  that  cataract 
of  the  Peace.  There  ought  to  be  a  lock  or  a 
channel  cut  through,  so  that  steamboats  could 
run  the  whole  length  from  Chippewayan  to  the 
Rockies !  As  it  is,  everything  has  to  portage 
there." 

"  We  don't  know  whether  to  call  this  coun- 
try old  or  young,"  said  Rob.     "  In  some  ways 

300 


FARTHEST  NORTH 

it  doesn't  seem  to  have  changed  very  much, 
and  in  other  ways  it  seems  just  like  any  other 
place." 

"One  of  these  days  you'll  see  a  railroad 
down  the  Mackenzie,  young  man,"  said  Uncle 
Dick,  "and  before  long,  of  course,  you'll  see 
one  across  the  Rockies  from  the  head  of  the 
Saskatchewan,  above  the  big  bend  of  the 
Columbia. 

"  Why  couldn't  we  get  in  there  some  time, 
Uncle  Dick?"  asked  Jesse,  who  was  feeling 
pretty  brave  now  that  they  were  well  out  of 
the  Rocky  Mountains  and  the  white  water  of 
the  rapids. 

"Well,  I  don't  know,"  said  Uncle  Dick, 
suddenly  looking  around.  "  It  might  be  a 
good  idea,  after  all.  But  I  think  you'd  find 
pretty  bad  water  in  the  Columbia  if  you  tried 
to  do  any  navigation  there.  Time  enough  to 
talk  about  that  next  year.  Come  on  now, 
and  I'll  introduce  you  to  the  factor  and  the 
people  up  here  at  the  Post." 

They  joined  him  now,  and  soon  were  shak- 
ing hands  with  many  persons,  official  and 
otherwise,  of  the  white  or  the  red  race.  They 
found  the  life  very  interesting  and  curious, 
according  to  their  own  notions.  The  head 
clerk  and  they  soon  struck  up  a  warm  friend- 
ship.    He  told  them  that  he  had  spent  thirty 

301 


THE  YOUNG  ALASKANS  ON  THE  TRAIL 

years  of  his  life  at  that  one  place,  although  he 
received  his  education  as  far  east  as  Montreal. 
Married  to  an  Indian  woman,  who  spoke  no 
English,  he  had  a  family  of  ten  bright  and 
clean  children,  each  one  of  whom,  as  John 
soon  found  to  his  satisfaction,  appreciated 
the  Imperial  Toffy  which  made  a  part  of  the 
stock  of  the  Hudson  Bay  Company  at  that 
post  also. 

All  of  these  new  friends  of  theirs  asked  them 
eagerly  about  their  journey  across  the  Rockies, 
which  was  a  strange  region  to  every  one  of 
them,  although  they  had  passed  their  lives 
in  the  service  of  the  fur  trade  in  the  north. 
As  usual,  in  short,  they  made  themselves 
much  at  home,  and  asked  a  thousand  ques- 
tions difficult  enough  to  answer.  Here,  as 
they  had  done  at  Peace  River  Landing,  they 
laid  in  a  stock  of  gaudy  moccasins  and  gloves 
and  rifle  covers,  all  beautifully  embroidered 
by  native  women  in  beads  or  stained  porcupine 
quills,  some  of  which  work  had  come  from  the 
half-arctic  tribes  hundreds  of  miles  north  of 
Vermilion.  They  saw  also  some  of  the  furs 
which  had  been  sent  down  in  the  season's 
take,  and  heard  stories  in  abundance  of  the 
ways  of  that  wild  country  in  the  winter  season. 
Even  they  undertook  to  make  friends  with 
some  of  the  half-savage  sledge-dogs  which  were 

302 


FARTHEST  NORTH 

kept  chained  in  the  yard  back  of  the  Post. 
After  this  they  made  a  journey  out  to  the  farm 
which  the  Dominion  government  maintains 
in  that  far-off  region,  and  there  saw,  as  they 
had  been  promised  by  Captain  Saunders, 
wheat  and  rye  taller  than  any  one  of  them 
as  they  stood  in  the  grain,  and  also  vege- 
tables of  every  sort,  all  growing  or  in  full 
maturity. 

"Well,  we'll  have  stories  to  tell  when  we 
get  back,"  said  Rob,  "and  I  don't  believe 
they'll  believe  half  of  them,  either,  about  the 
wildness  of  this  country  and  the  tameness  of 
it.     Anyhow,  I'm  glad  we've  come." 

The  next  day  they  put  in,  as  Uncle  Dick 
suggested,  in  a  steamer  trip  down  to  the 
Vermilion  Chutes.  They  did  not  get  closer 
than  three  or  four  miles,  but  tied  up  while  the 
party  went  down  on  foot  to  see  the  big  cata- 
ract of  the  Peace — some  fifteen  feet  of  sheer, 
boiling  white  water,  falling  from  a  rim  of 
rock  extending  almost  half  a  mile  straight- 
away across  the  river. 

"  I  expect  that's  just  a  little  worse  than  the 
'  Polly'  Rapids,"  said  John.  "  I  don't  think 
even  Moise  could  run  that  place." 

Even  as  they  stood  on  the  high  rim  of  the 
rock  at  the  edge  of  the  falls  they  saw  coming 
up  from  below  the  figure  of  a  half-breed,  who 

3°3 


THE  YOUNG  ALASKANS  ON  THE  TRAIL 

was  dragging  at  the  end  of  a  very  long  line 
a  canoe  which  was  guided  by  his  companion 
far  below  on  the  swift  water.  Had  the  light 
line  broken  it  must,  as  it  seemed  to  these 
observers,  have  meant  destruction  of  the 
man  in  the  canoe.  Yet  the  two  went  on  about 
their  work  calmly,  hauling  up  close  to  the  foot 
of  the  falls,  then  lifting  out  their  canoe,  port- 
aging above,  and,  with  a  brief  salutation, 
passing  quickly  on  their  way  up  the  stream. 

" That's  the  way  we  do  it,  boys,"  said  Uncle 
Dick,  "  in  this  part  of  the  world — there  goes 
the  fast  express.  It  would  trouble  the  lightest 
of  you  to  keep  up  with  that  boy  on  the  line, 
too,  I'm  thinking.  Some  day,"  added  Uncle 
Dick,  casting  a  professional  eye  out  over  the 
wide  ridge  of  rock  which  here  blocked  the 
river,  "they'll  blow  a  hole  through  that  place 
so  that  a  boat  can  get  through.  Who  knows 
but  one  of  you  will  be  the  engineer  in  charge  ? 
Anyhow,  I  hope  so — if  I  don't  get  the  job 
myself." 

"You  mustn't  forget  about  that  trip  over 
the  Yellowhead  Pass,  where  your  new  rail- 
road's going  now,  Uncle  Dick,"  said  Jesse,  as 
they  turned  to  walk  again  up  the  rough  beach 
toward  the  mooring-place  of  the  steamer. 

"Don't  be  in  too  big  a  hurry,  Jesse,"  re- 
turned his  relative.     "You've  got  a  whole 

304 


FARTHEST  NORTH 

year  of  studying  ahead  of  you,  between  now 
and  then.     We'll  take  it  under  advisement." 

"  What  I  believe  I  like  best  about  this  coun- 
try," said  Rob,  soberly,  "  is  the  kindness  of  the 
people  in  it.  Everywhere  we  have  been 
they've  been  as  hospitable  as  they  could  be. 
We  don't  dare  admire  anything,  because 
they'll  give  it  to  us.  It  seems  to  me  every- 
body gets  along  pleasantly  with  everybody 
else  up  here;  and  I  like  that,  you  know." 

"It's  a  man's  country,"  said  Uncle  Dick, 
"that's  true,  and  I  don't  know  that  you'll  be 
the  worse  for  a  little  trip  into  it,  although  you 
come  from  a  man's  country  back  there  in 
Alaska  yourselves,  for  the  matter  of  that. 
Well,  this  is  the  northern  end  of  your  trail  for 
this  year,  my  sons.  Here's  where  we  turn 
back  for  home." 

They  paused  at  the  bend  and  looked  once 
more  back  at  the  long,  foaming  ridge  of  white 
water  which  extended  across  from  shore  to 
shore  of  the  stream  which  they  had  followed 
so  far. 

"All  right,"  said  Rob,  "we've  had  a  good 
time." 

They  turned  now,  and  all  tramped  steadily 
back  to  the  boat,  which  soon  resumed  her 
course  up-stream. 

Regarding  their  further  stay  at  Fort  Ver- 
305 


THE  YOUNG  ALASKANS  ON  THE  TRAIL 

milion,  or  their  return  journey  of  several  days 
southward  to  Peace  River  Landing,  little  need 
be  said,  save  that,  in  the  belief  of  all,  the 
young  hunters  now  had  killed  abundance  of 
game.  Although  they  saw  more  than  a 
dozen  bears  on  their  way  up  the  river,  they 
were  willing  to  leave  their  rifles  in  their  cases, 
and  spend  their  time  studying  the  country  and 
poring  yet  more  over  the  maps  which  they 
were  now  preparing  to  show  their  friends  at 
home. 


XXXI 

HOMEWARD    BOUND 

ARRIVED  at  Peace  River  Landing,  the 
** young  hunters  found  everything  quite 
as  Alex  said  it  would  be,  their  belongings 
perfectly  safe  and  untouched  in  the  tent  where 
they  had  left  them.  Uncle  Dick,  who  now 
took  charge  of  the  party,  agreed  with  them 
that  it  was  an  excellent  thing  to  make  Alex 
and  Moise  presents  of  the  canoes,  and  to  give 
Moise  the  remainder  of  the  supplies  which 
would  not  be  required  on  their  brief  trip  to 
Little  Slave  Lake  by  wagon. 

At  this  time  the  telephone  line  had  been 
completed  from  Little  Slave  Lake  to  Peace 
River  Landing,  and  the  factor  at  the  latter 
post  had  sent  word  for  two  wagons  and  teams 
to  come  up  for  these  passengers,  outbound. 
There  was  little  difficulty  in  throwing  their 
light  equipment,  with  their  many  trophies 
and  curiosities,  into  one  of  the  wagons,  and 
arranging  with  the  other  to  carry  out  the 

307 


THE  YOUNG  ALASKANS  ON  THE  TRAIL 

Jaybird,  which,  a  little  bit  battered  but 
practically  unhurt,  now  continued  the  last 
stage  of  its  somewhat  eventful  journey  over 
the  old  Mackenzie  trail — Alex,  as  may  be 
supposed,  watching  it  with  very  jealous  eye 
so  that  it  should  get  no  harm  in  the  long 
traverse. 

Alex  was  thus  to  accompany  the  party  for  a 
few  days,  but  Moise,  who  lived  at  the  Landing, 
now  must  say  good-by.  This  he  did  still 
smiling,  though  by  no  means  glad  to  lose  the 
company  of  his  young  friends. 

"You'll  come  back  some  more  bimeby," 
said  he.  "  Any  man  he'll  drink  the  water  on 
this  river  one  time,  he'll  couldn't  live  no  more 
without  once  each  year  he'll  come  back  an' 
drink  some  more  on  that  river!  I'll  see  you 
again,  an'  bimeby  you'll  get  so  you'll  could 
carry  seex  hondred  poun'  half  a  mile  an'  not 
set  it  down.     Moise,  he'll  wait  for  you." 

When  they  reached  the  top  of  the  steep  hill 
which  rises  back  of  Peace  River  Landing, 
almost  a  thousand  feet  above  the  river  which 
runs  below,  they  all  stopped  and  looked  back, 
waiting  for  the  wagons  to  toil  up  the  slope,  and 
waiting  also  to  take  in  once  more  the  beauty 
of  the  scene  which  lay  below  them.  The 
deep  valley,  forking  here,  lay  pronounced  in 
the  dark  outlines  of  its  forest  growth.     It  still 

308 


HOMEWARD   BOUND 

was  morning,  and  a  light  mist  lay  along  the 
surface  of  the  river.  In  the  distance  banks  of 
purple  shadows  lay,  and  over  all  the  sun  was 
beginning  to  cast  a  softening  light.  The  boys 
turned  away  to  trudge  on  along  the  trail  with 
a  feeling  almost  of  sadness  at  leaving  a  place 
so  beautiful. 

"It  is  as  Moise  says,  though!"  broke  out 
Rob,  answering  what  seemed  to  be  the  un- 
spoken question  in  the  minds  of  his  fellows — 
"we'll  have  to  come  back  again  some  time. 
It's  a  man's  country." 

Hardened  by  their  long  experience  in  the 
open,  the  boys  were  able  to  give  even  Uncle 
Dick,  seasoned  as  he  was,  something  of  an 
argument  at  footwork  on  the  trail,  and  they 
used  wagons  by  no  means  all  the  time  in  the 
hundred  miles  which  lie  between  Peace  River 
Landing  and  Little  Slave  Lake — a  journey 
which  required  them  to  camp  out  for  two 
nights  in  the  open.  By  this  time  the  nights 
were  cold,  and  on  the  height  of  land  between 
these  two  waterways  the  water  froze  almost 
an  inch  in  the  water-pails  at  night,  although 
the  sun  in  the  daytime  was  as  warm  as  ever. 
To  their  great  comfort,  the  mosquito  nuisance 
was  now  quite  absent ;  so,  happy  and  a  little 
hungry,  at  length  they  rode  into  the  scattered 
settlement  of  Grouard,  or  Little  Slave  Lake, 

3°9 


THE  YOUNG  ALASKANS  ON  THE  TRAIL 

passing  on  the  way  to  the  lower  town  one 
more  of  the  old-time  posts  of  the  Hudson 
Bay  Company. 

"You  see  here,"  said  Uncle  Dick,  as  they 
paused  at  the  edge  of  the  water  which  lay  at 
the  end  street,  "only  an  arm  of  the  lake 
proper.  The  steamer  can't  get  through  this 
little  channel,  but  ties  up  about  eight  miles 
from  here.  I  suppose  we  ought  to  go  aboard 
to-night." 

"If  you  will  allow  me,  sir,"  said  Alex, 
stepping  forward  at  this  time,  "  I  might  give 
the  boys  a  little  duck-shoot  this  evening  on 
their  way  down  to  the  boat." 

"Why  not?"  said  Uncle  Dick,  enthusiasti- 
cally. "  I  don't  know  but  I'd  like  a  mallard  or 
so  for  myself,  although  I  can't  join  you  to- 
night, as  I'm  too  busy.  Can  you  get  guns 
and  ammunition,  Alex?" 

"Oh  yes,"  replied  the  old  hunter,  "easily. 
And  I'll  show  the  young  gentlemen  more 
ducks  to-night  than  they  ever  saw  in  all  their 
lives  before.  The  Jaybird  will  carry  all  of  us, 
if  we're  careful,  and  I'll  just  paddle  them 
down  along  the  edge  of  the  marsh.  After 
we've  made  our  shoot,  we'll  come  on  down  to 
the  boat  after  dark,  or  thereabout." 

"Fine!"  said  Uncle  Dick.  "That'll  give 
me  time  to  get  my  business  completed  here, 

310 


HOMEWARD  BOUND 

and  I'll  go  down  to  the  boat  by  wagon  along 
shore." 

This  arrangement  pleased  the  boys  very 
much,  for  they  knew  in  a  general  way  that  the 
lake  on  whose  shores  they  now  were  arrived 
was  one  of  the  greatest  breeding-places  for 
wild  fowl  on  the  continent.  Besides  this, 
they  wished  to  remain  with  Alex  as  long  as 
possible,  for  all  of  them  had  become  very 
fond  of  the  quiet  and  dignified  man  who  had 
been  their  guide  and  companion  for  so  long. 

The  four  of  them  had  no  trouble  in  finish- 
ing the  portage  of  the  Jaybird  and  her  cargo 
from  the  wagon  to  navigable  water,  and 
finally  they  set  off,  paddling  for  the  marshes 
which  made  off  toward  the  main  lake. 

They  had  traveled  perhaps  three  or  four 
miles  when  Alex  concluded  to  yield  to  the 
importunities  of  the  boys  to  get  ashore.  They 
were  eager  to  do  this,  because  continually 
now  they  saw  great  bands  and  streams  of  wild 
fowl  coming  in  from  every  direction  to  alight 
in  the  marshes — more  ducks,  as  Alex  had  said, 
than  they  had  thought  there  were  in  all  the 
world.  Most  of  them  were  mallards,  and 
from  many  places  in  the  marsh  they  could 
hear  the  quacking  and  squawking  of  yet 
other  ducks  hidden  in  the  high  grass. 

"We  haven't  any  waders,"  said  Alex,  "and 

21  311 


THE  YOUNG  ALASKANS  ON  THE  TRAIL 

I  think  you'll  find  the  water  pretty  cold,  but 
you'll  soon  get  used  it  to.  Come  ahead, 
then." 

They  pushed  their  canoe  into  the  cover  of 
the  reeds  and  grasses,  and  disembarking, 
waded  on  out  toward  the  outer  edge  of  the 
marsh,  where  the  water  was  not  quite  so  deep, 
yet  where  they  could  get  cover  in  rushes  and 
clumps  of  grass.  Alex  posted  them  in  a  line 
across  a  narrow  quarter  of  the  marsh,  so  that 
each  gun  would  be  perhaps  a  hundred  yards 
from  his  neighbor,  Jesse,  the  shortest  of  the 
party,  taking  the  shallowest  water  nearest  to 
the  road  beyond  the  marsh. 

They  had  not  long  to  wait,  for  the  air 
seemed  to  them  quite  full  of  hurrying  bands  of 
fowl,  so  close  that  they  could  see  their  eyes 
dart  glances  from  side  to  side,  their  long  necks 
stretched  out,  their  red  feet  hugged  tight  up 
to  their  feathers. 

It  is  not  to  be  supposed  that  any  one  of 
our  young  hunters  was  an  expert  wild-fowl 
shot,  for  skill  in  that  art  comes  only  with  a 
considerable  experience.  Moreover,  they  were 
not  provided  with  the  best  of  guns  and  am- 
munition, but  only  such  as  the  Post  was 
accustomed  to  sell  to  the  half-breeds  of  that 
country.  In  spite  of  all  handicaps,  however, 
the  sport  was  keen  enough  to  please  them,  and 

312 


HOMEWARD   BOUND 

successful  enough  as  well,  for  once  in  a  while 
one  of  them  would  succeed  in  knocking  out  of 
a  passing  flock  one  or  more  of  the  great  birds, 
which  splashed  famously  in  the  water  of  the 
marsh.  Sometimes  they  were  unable  to  find 
their  birds  after  they  had  fallen,  but  they 
learned  to  hurry  at  once  to  a  crippled  bird 
and  secure  it  betore  it  could  escape  and  hide 
in  the  grasses.  Presently  they  had  at  their 
feet  almost  a  dozen  fine  mallards.  In  that 
country,  where  the  ducks  abound,  there  had 
as  yet  been  no  shooting  done  at  them,  so  that 
they  were  not  really  as  wild  as  they  are  when 
they  reach  the  southern  latitudes.  Neither 
were  their  feathers  so  thick  as  they  are  later 
in  the  season,  when  their  flight  is  stronger. 
The  shooting  was  not  so  difficult  as  not  to 
afford  plenty  of  excitement  for  our  young 
hunters,  who  called  out  in  glee  from  one  to  the 
other,  commenting  on  this,  the  last  of  their 
many  sporting  experiences  in  the  north. 

They  found  that  Alex,  although  he  had 
never  boasted  of  his  skill,  was  a  very  wonder- 
ful shot  on  wild  fowl ;  in  fact,  he  rarely  fired  at 
all  unless  certain  he  was  going  to  kill  his  bird, 
and  when  he  dropped  the  bird  it  nearly 
always  was  stone-dead. 

After  a  time  Rob,  hearing  what  he  sup- 
posed to  be  the  quacking  of  a  duck  in  the  grass 

3X3 


THE  YOUNG  ALASKANS  ON  THE  TRAIL 

behind  him,  started  back  to  find  what  he 
fancied  was  the  hidden  mallard.  He  saw 
Alex  looking  at  him  curiously,  and  once  more 
heard  the  quacking. 

"  Why,  it's  you  who've  been  doing  that  all 
the  time,  Alex!"  exclaimed  Rob.  "I  see  now 
why  those  ducks  would  come  closer  to  you 
than  to  me — you  were  calling  them!" 

Alex  tried  to  show  Rob  how  to  quack  like  a 
duck  without  using  any  artificial  means,  but 
Rob  did  not  quite  get  the  knack  of  it  that 
evening.  For  a  time,  however,  after  the  other 
boys  had  come  over  also,  they  all  squatted  in 
the  grass  near  to  Alex,  and  found  much 
pleasure  in  seeing  him  decoy  the  ducks,  and 
do  good,  clean  shooting  when  they  were  well 
within  reach. 

At  last  Alex  said,  "  I  think  this  will  do  for 
the  evening,  if  you  don't  mind.  It's  time  we 
were  getting  on  down  to  the  steamer." 

The  boys  had  with  them  their  string  of 
ducks,  and  Alex  had  piled  up  nearly  two 
dozen  of  his  own. 

11  What  are  we  going  to  do  with  all  of  these  ?" 
said  Rob.  "They're  heavy,  and  our  boat's 
pretty  full  right  now." 

"How  many  shall  you  want  on  the  boat?" 
inquired  Alex. 

"  Well,"  said  Rob,  "  I  don't  know,  but  from 
314 


HOMEWARD   BOUND 

the  number  of  ducks  we've  seen  I  don't  sup- 
pose they're  much  of  a  rarity  there  any  more 
than  they  are  with  you.  Why  don't  you  keep 
these  ducks  yourself,  Alex,  for  your  family?" 

"Very  well,"  said  Alex,  "suppose  you  take 
a  half  dozen  or  so,  and  let  me  get  the  others 
when  I  come  back — I'll  pile  them  up  on  this 
muskrat  house  here,  and  pick  them  up  after  I 
have  left  you  at  the  steamer.  You  see,"  con- 
tinued he,  "  my  people  live  about  two  miles  on 
the  other  side  of  the  town,  closer  to  the  Hud- 
son Bay  post.  I  must  go  back  and  get  ac- 
quainted with  my  family." 

"Have  you  any  children,  Alex?"  asked 
Rob. 

"Five,"  said  Alex.  "Two  boys  about  as 
big  as  you,  and  three  little  girls.  They  all  go 
to  school." 

"I  wish  we  had  known  that,"  said  Rob, 
"when  we  came  through  town,  for  we  ought 
to  have  called  on  your  family.  Never  mind, 
we'll  do  that  the  next  time  we're  up  here." 

They  paddled  on  now  quietly  and  steadily 
along  the  edge  of  the  marshes,  passed  con- 
tinually by  stirring  bands  of  wild  fowl,  now 
indistinct  in  the  dusk.  At  last  they  saw  the 
lights  of  the  steamer  which  was  to  carry  them 
to  the  other  extremity  of  Little  Slave  Lake. 

And  so  at  last,  after  they  had  gone  aboard, 
315 


THE  YOUNG  ALASKANS  ON  THE  TRAIL 

it  became  necessary  to  part  with  Alex  in  turn. 
Rob  called  his  friends  apart  for  a  little  whis- 
pered conversation.  After  a  time  they  all 
went  up  to  Alex  carrying  certain  articles  in 
their  hands. 

"  If  you  please,  Alex,"  said  Rob,  "we  want 
to  give  your  children  some  little  things  we 
don't  need  any  more  ourselves.  Here's  our 
pocket-knives,  and  some  handkerchiefs,  and 
what  toffy  John  has  left,  and  a  few  little 
things.  Please  take  them  to  your  boys,  and 
to  the  girls,  if  they'll  have  them,  and  say  we 
want  to  come  and  see  them  some  time." 

"That's  very  nice,"  said  Alex.  "I  thank 
you  very  much." 

He  shook  each  of  them  by  the  hand  quietly, 
and  then,  dropping  lightly  into  the  Jaybird 
as  she  lay  alongside,  paddled  off  steadily  into 
the  darkness,  with  Indian  dignity  now,  saying 
no  further  word  of  farewell. 


XXXII 

LEAVING    THE    TRAIL 

CONTINUALLY  there  was  something  new 
for  the  travelers,  even  after  they  had  fin- 
ished their  steamboat  journey  across  the  lake 
on  the  second  day.  Now  they  were  passing 
down  through  the  deep  and  crooked  little 
river  which  connects  Slave  Lake  with  the 
Athabasca  River.  They  made  what  is  known 
as  the  Mirror  Landing  portage  in  a  York  boat 
which  happened  to  be  above  the  rapids  of  the 
Little  Slave  River,  where  a  wagon  portage 
usually  is  made  of  some  fifteen  or  sixteen 
miles.  Here  on  the  Athabasca  they  found 
yet  another  steamboat  lying  alongshore,  and 
waiting  for  the  royal  mails  from  Peace  River 
Landing. 

This  steamer,  the  North  Star,  in  common 
with  that  plying  on  Little  Slave  Lake,  they 
discovered  to  be  owned  by  a  transportation 
company  doing  considerable  business  in  carry- 
ing settlers  and  settlers'  supplies  into  that 
upper  country.     Indeed,  they  found  the  owner 

317 


THE  YOUNG  ALASKANS  ON  THE  TRAIL 

of  the  boat,  a  stalwart  and  kindly  man,  him- 
self formerly  a  trader  among  the  Indians,  and 
now  a  prominent  official  in  the  Dominion 
government,  ready  to  accompany  them  as  far 
as  Athabasca  Landing,  and  eager  to  talk 
further  with  Mr.  Wilcox  regarding  coming 
development  of  the  country  which  Moise  had 
called  the  Land  of  Plenty. 

They  found  that  the  Athabasca  River  also 
flows  to  the  northward  in  its  main  course, 
joining  the  water  of  the  Peace  River  in  the 
great  Mackenzie,  the  artery  of  this  region 
between  the  Rockies  and  the  Arctics;  but 
here  it  makes  a  great  bend  far  to  the  south,  as 
though  to  invite  into  the  Far  North  any  one 
living  in  the  civilized  settlements  far  below. 
Their  maps,  old  and  new,  became  objects  of 
still  greater  interest  to  the  young  travelers, 
both  on  board  the  vessel,  where  they  had 
talked  with  every  one,  as  usual,  regarding  their 
trip  and  the  country,  and  after  they  had  left 
the  steamer  at  the  thriving  frontier  town  of 
Athabasca  Landing. 

Here  they  were  almost  in  touch  with  the 
head  of  the  rails,  but  still  clinging  to  their 
wish  to  travel  as  the  natives  long  had  done, 
they  took  wagon  transportation  from  Atha- 
basca Landing  to  the  city  of  Edmonton,  some- 
thing like  a  hundred  miles  southward  from 

318 


LEAVING  THE  TRAIL 

the  terminus  of  their  water  journey.  At  this 
point,  indeed,  they  felt  again  that  their  long 
trail  was  ended,  for  all  around  them  were  tall 
buildings,  busy  streets,  blazing  electric  lights, 
and  all  the  tokens  of  a  thriving  modern  city. 
Here,  too,  they  and  their  journey  became 
objects  of  newspaper  comment,  and  for  the 
brief  time  of  their  stay  the  young  voyageurs 
were  quite  lionized  by  men  who  could  wTell 
understand  the  feat  they  had  performed. 

Mr.  Wilcox  was  obliged  to  remain  in  the 
north  for  some  time  yet  in  connection  with  his 
engineering  duties,  which  would  not  close  until 
the  approach  of  winter.  He  therefore  sent 
the  boys  off  alone  for  their  railway  journey, 
which  would  take  them  first  to  Calgary,  and 
then  across  the  Rockies  and  Selkirks  through 
Banff,  and  forward  to  Vancouver,  Victoria,  and 
Seattle,  from  which  latter  point  they  were 
expected  to  take  coast  boats  up  the  long 
Alaska  coast  to  Valdez — a  sea  voyage  of  seven 
days  more  from  Seattle. 

Mr.  Wilcox  gave  them  full  instructions 
regarding  the  remaining  portions  of  their 
journey,  and  at  length  shook  hands  with 
them  as  he  left  them  on  the  sleeping-car. 

"Tell  the  folks  in  Valdez  that  I'll  be  back 
home  on  one  of  the  last  boats.  So  long! 
Take  care  of  yourselves!" 

319 


THE  YOUNG  ALASKANS  ON  THE  TRAIL 

He  turned,  left  the  car,  and  marched  off  up 
the  platform  without  looking  around  at  them 
even  to  wave  a  hand.  His  kindly  look  had 
said  good-by.  The  boys  looked  after  him  and 
made  no  comment.  They  saw  that  they  were 
in  a  country  of  men.  They  were  beginning  to 
learn  the  ways  of  the  breed  of  men  who,  in  the 
last  century  or  so,  have  conquered  the  Ameri- 
can continent  for  their  race  —  a  race  much 
the  same,  under  whatever  flag. 

Even  on  the  railway  train  they  found 
plenty  of  new  friends  who  were  curious  to 
learn  of  their  long  journey  across  the  Rockies. 
The  boys  gave  a  modest  account  of  them- 
selves, and  were  of  the  belief  that  almost  any 
one  could  have  done  as  much  had  they  had 
along  such  good  guides  as  Alex  and  Moise. 

The  Rockies  and  the  Selkirks  impressed 
them  very  much,  and  they  still  consulted  their 
maps,  especially  at  the  time  when  they  found 
themselves  approaching  the  banks  of  the 
Columbia  River. 

''This  river  and  the  Fraser  are  cousins," 
said  Rob,  "  like  the  Athabasca  and  the  Peace. 
Both  of  these  rivers  west  of  the  Rockies  head 
far  to  the  south,  then  go  far  to  the  north,  and 
swing  back — but  they  run  to  the  Pacific  in- 
stead of  to  the  Arctic.  Now  right  here" — he 
put  his  finger  on  the  place  marked  as  the 

320 


LEAVING  THE  TRAIL 

Yellowhead  Pass — "  is  the  head  of  the  Saskat- 
chewan River,  and  the  fur- traders  used  to 
cross  here  from  the  Saskatchewan  to  the 
Columbia  just  the  way  Mackenzie  and  Fraser 
and  Finlay  used  to  cross  to  the  Peace  from  the 
Fraser.  I  tell  you  what  I  think,  fellows.  I'd 
like  to  come  back  next  year  some  time,  and 
have  a  go  at  this  Yellowhead  Pass,  the  way  we 
did  at  that  on  the  head  of  the  Peace — wouldn't 
you?  We  could  study  up  on  Alexander 
Henry,  and  Thompson,  and  all  those  fellows, 
just  as  we  did  on  Fraser  and  Mackenzie  for 
the  northern  pass." 

"Well,"  said  John,  "if  we  could  have  Alex 
and  Moise,  there's  nothing  in  the  world  I'd 
like  better  than  just  that  trip." 

"That's  the  way  I  feel,  too,"  added  Jesse. 
"But  now  we're  done  with  this  trip.  When 
you  stop  to  think  about  it,  we've  been  quite  a 
little  way  from  home,  haven't  we?" 

"I  feel  as  though  I'd  been  gone  a  year," 
said  John. 

"And  now  it's  all  over,"  added  Rob,  "and 
we're  really  going  back  to  our  own  country, 
I  feel  as  if  it  would  be  a  year  from  here  to 
home." 

Jesse  remained  silent  for  a  time.  "  Do  you 
know  what  I  am  thinking  about  now?  It's 
about    our    'lob -stick'    tree    that    our   men 

321 


THE  YOUNG  ALASKANS  ON  THE  TRAIL 

trimmed  up  for  us.  We'll  put  one  on  every 
river  we  ever  run.  What  do  you  say  to 
that?" 

"No,"  replied  Rob,  "we  can't  do  that  for 
ourselves  —  that  has  to  be  voted  to  us  by 
others,  and  only  if  we  deserve  it.  I'll  tell 
you  what — let's  do  our  best  to  deserve  it 
first!" 

The  others  of  the  Young  Alaskans  agreed 
to  this  very  cheerfully,  and  thus  they  turned 
happily  toward  home. 


THE    END 


Hough,  2 

The  younf 
on  the  trail 

APH  22  1939 


MAY    ^  I93& 


Alaskans 


H  28  '39 


B18521 


THE  UNIVERSITY  OF  CALIFORNIA  LIBRARY 


..^.■.,:,;'.-:,:,.;!,.)/- 


